Forever a Phantom
by MoonlightUmbreon
Summary: Danny Fenton's life is turned upside down when he steps into his parents new invention; the Fenton Ghost Portal. Now he must live out life as a ghost, while his parents desperately try to find a cure. But how can you revive someone who's dead? -extreme AU
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:**

As much as I might want to, I do not own Danny Phantom. Why didn't I buy it? Because Danny Phantom is owned by Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon and they won't sell it to me!

**Author's Note:**

Well, this is an AU story. I won't be following the original guidelines of the series either, it might sound slightly the same, but trust me, it won't turn out like that. Happy reading!

**Prologue**

Danny looked over at Sam uncertainly, lowering an eyebrow. "Are you sure it's entirely safe…? What happens if something goes wrong…?"

"It'll be fine." Sam said reassuringly, patting Danny on the back. Tucker stood there, mesmerized by the ghost portal.

"Wouldn't it be great if it really worked!?" he said in excitement. "A whole world of ghosts… It'd be amazing!

"Well…" Danny thought it over, weighing the good and bad things. "I… guess we could. It probably will be interesting. I just hope mum and dad don't come home, they warned me against using this thing because it wasn't working. Still I bet they'd love it if I got it working!"

"That's the spirit Danny!" said Sam who was grinning at him. "Maybe you should put on that jumpsuit."

"Why?" Danny asked Sam, Tucker also had an inquisitive look on his face. "It's just a jumpsuit, it's no different than my clothes except material."

"Hey, we're not taking chances Danny, I'm not sure either, but just to be safe I think you should wear it."

"She's got a point, y'know." said Tucker. "But… ugh, you better get rid of that sticker with your dad's face on it first."

'Yeah." Sam said, wincing at the sight and ripping the sticker off and handing the jumpsuit to Danny. "Talk about a fashion disaster. You don't want to go walking around in a world of ghosts with _that _on your chest."

Smirking at the thought, Danny put on the white jumpsuit that had black gloves, a black collar, a black belt and black boots. It looked tons better without the Jack Fenton sticker on it, although still odd.

"Well… It doesn't look as bad as I thought it would." said Tucker. "But hey, better you than me!"

"Yes, thank you so very much, Tucker." Said Danny spitefully but grinning. The three smirked for a second then focused their attention back onto the ghost portal.

"Hey, look, I think I know why it didn't work for your folks, Danny!" Sam said suddenly and excitedly. "There's a small bit of copper wire that's broken just there. If we could solder it back together the portal might just work!"

"Yeah, there is… see Danny? Right down the bottom there." Tucker added. "I can solder, has anyone got a soldering iron?"

"My parents have one back here on this bench." said Danny, walking over and grabbing the soldering iron, then handing it to Tucker. "Oh, wait, you'll need some solder too." Danny went back over to the workbench and fumbled through the draws until he finally found and pulled out a roll of solder. "Here."

Tucker took the solder and the soldering iron, plugging it into the wall and waiting for it to heat up, then carefully melting the solder so that the copper wire joined up again nice and firmly and melting it onto the steel gate of the portal from which it had come loose.

"There, all done!" said Tucker, passing back the tools he had used after unplugging the soldering iron from the wall. "Not bad for a techno-geek."

"Yeah, not bad Tuck." Sam said. "Guess it's time for you to take a look inside Danny, here's a camera!"

"Hey, yeah." replied Danny. "I almost forgot about that."

Taking the camera, Danny stepped inside the large, short tube. Inside was two buttons, one green one with 'on' written over the top and a red one with 'off' written over the top.

"Wish me luck guys!" Danny said excitedly, pulling the camera strap over his shoulder.

"Good luck Danny!" Tucker and Sam chanted in unition. Danny turned to the two buttons and gulped; it was now or never.

Sam and Tucker were witness to a blood-curling scream; one that was so horrible it made their very souls shudder. A green swirling mass appeared in the portal after a large explosion. As the two dared to look at the portal, they feared the worst.

_-End Prologue-_

**Author's Note:**

That's the prologue everyone. If you're thinking of reviewing please don't hesitate, I like all reviews except flames, if you don't have anything either good or helpful to say, don't say anything at all. Anyways I hope you enjoyed it and thank-you for reading.


	2. What Happened?

**Disclaimer:**

No, they still won't sell them to me, so I don't own Danny Phantom.

**Author's Note:**

I wasn't sure that people would actually like this concept, but it turns out they do! Thanks for reading everyone and I'm so glad you guys like it!

**Chapter 1: What happened!?**

Something was emerging out of the mass of swirling green, from the shape of the shadow it looked like Danny – he was okay! However, what emerged from the green swirl was not Danny, this person had a glowing set of bright emerald green eyes, snow white hair and the jumpsuit colours were swapped around, it wasn't Danny. There was something strange about this boy too – he had an eerie white glow surrounding his body.

Looking about on the verge of collapsing, Sam ran to him and let the boy rest his wait over her shoulders. Tucker followed suit, coming to face the kid. He didn't know whether to tend to the boy first or to ask him about Danny.

"Are… you okay…? You don't look that good!" said a concerned Tucker, feeling his temperature, and noticing it was icy-cold. "You're freezing!"

Suddenly the boy slipped through Sam, _right through_, he'd somehow become intangible and half transparent at the time. As he hit the floor he needed every ounce of strength left in him to pick himself up to a sitting position, Sam and Tucker both supported the boy so he didn't fall again.

"How… how did I just do that…?" asked a voice that seemed to echo everywhere. Suddenly it struck Sam like a metal rod to the head.

"Danny?!" she said in a very high pitched voice, much unlike her own. Tucker was looking shocked as well.

"Yeah…?" said the boy uncertainly. "Who else would it be…?"

"Dude…" Tucker started, looking at his friend. "You've gotta look at yourself in the mirror!"

"Wh-why?" Danny asked, looking at the two, who's faces were riddled with shock and confusion. "What's wrong with me?! Tell me what's wrong with me!!"

Sam and Tucker gulped and looked at each other hopelessly.

"Danny, I'll get a mirror." said Sam, running over to the workbench hoping to find something, _anything _that could reflect images so neither her or Tucker would have to break the news to Danny. She eventually did find what she sought, on old, small and slightly rusty brass mirror. This would have to do. "Here."

Danny, not really knowing what to expect took the mirror off Sam and looked at his own reflection. He remained silent, although his eyes were wide open. It couldn't have happened, how could his eyes turn from blue to a glowing green colour? And how did his hair go white!? And the strangest of all, how did he have that eerie white glow around him…? Why were the colours of his jumpsuit swapped around?

"How…?" was the only echoed word Danny said. Tucker gritted his teeth.

"Danny… I think something went wrong in the portal…"

Suddenly Danny became semi-transparent and fell through the chair, dropping the mirror so the glass smashed. In shock he quickly moved away so he was no longer overlapping the chair that he was sitting on. What little colour left in his face drained.

"What happened to me!?" Danny gasped to his two best friends. "_HOW_did this happen to me!?"

"We don't know." Sam said sadly, tears beginning to escape her eyes. "You went into the portal and when you pressed the button you screamed horribly and it full-on exploded…"

The portal stirred, all three friends immediately turned to it, and a camera was spat out, where it clanged on the floor. Tucker walked over to where it lay and picked it up.

"When you were in there, it recorded on it's own!" said Tucker in amazement. "You guys, look!"

Danny, who seemed to have regained his strength, walked over to Tucker with Sam and Tucker put it on the clip, which was looking up from the ground – it must have been dropped – and put it in super slow motion. It showed Danny getting shocked by a horrible amount of electricity, and in the process his hair turning white, his eyes going green, the colours of his jumpsuit change and a white glow cover him. It then showed Danny holding his head after the electricity ended and struggling to walk out of the portal. Tucker stopped it there. Danny shook his head.

"I… I don't think that that was normal electricity…"

"Nor do I…" said Sam slowly. "Danny… I'm only basing this on the last few minutes, but… I… I… I think you're a ghost!"

Danny moved over to where one of the shards of mirror lay, picking it up and looking at his own reflection again. As he looked, he noticed his hand go transparent and the mirror shard fall through. Danny started pacing; his mind racing all over the place. What was he going to do?

"It'll be alright Danny!" said Tucker with concern to his friend. "We can die your hair black too!"

"Thanks Tuck," said Danny grimly. "but even if we do that, we're never going to be able to change my eye colour or get rid of this weird white glow, or stop my voice from producing that echo effect…"

"Then what are we going to do Danny?" Said Tucker desperately. "You're parents are a little... over-obsessed with ghosts. They've been trying to prove their existence for ages, what if they saw you and decided that you would be not only the perfect thing to prove ghost's existence, but they decide to do some sort of autopsy or experiment!?"

"Look, this situation might be a little… odd, but I think we can figure our way around it." said Sam. "Like you said, we can die his hair black, but we can say that he has contact lenses in. Sometimes if you put contacts on your eyes actually change colour while they're there."

"Or we can just tell them the truth…" Danny resigned. "They know a lot more about this than any of us… maybe they can help."

"Danny, are you sure…?" Sam asked him uncertainly. "I mean… what if they _do_ something to you?"

"Yes, I'll turn up for school tomorrow like this." Said Danny sarcastically. "No one will notice the hair, the eyes OR the fact that I seem to be glowing with a white auror or the fact that my voice is echoing wherever I am!"

Frowning, Sam looked worried, and so did Tucker. Danny didn't blame them, but neither was as worried as he was. Although he didn't show it, Danny's mind was racing over what would happen with him. He didn't know what to do, and what if his parents cast him out? What's a ghost meant to do?

_-End Chapter 1-_

**Author's Note: **

Okay, thanks Thunderstorm101 for pointing that out to me, it allowed me to edit the chapter so it was right. )


	3. What an Obsessive Parent Would do

**Disclaimer:**

Butch Hartman owns Danny Phantom. Full stop.

**Author's Note:**

Thanks to Thunderstorm101 for picking up that mistake in the first chapter, it's fixed now. On to chapter 2!

**Chapter 2: What an Obsessive Parent Would do**

Danny stood there with a blank expression on his face. Sam finally waved her arm in front of his eyes until they followed the swinging motion of her arm.

"Come on… your parents might be able to find a way out of this. I'll get you some chocolate, it's known to calm people down."

With that, Sam patted him softly on the back and headed up from the basement. Danny watched her walk up the stairs, wondering what exactly going on. He couldn't wrap his mind around this being a cruel trick because he knew it wasn't true; this was completely real. Sam entered the basement carrying the large one kilo chocolate egg Sam had received for Easter and had brought to Danny's house to share. Tucker was nearly drooling at the sigh. Sam was grinning at Danny.

"_This_ ought to take your mind off the incident."

"You've got that right!" Danny said, his new emerald green eyes gazing at the chocolate. Sam brought it right up to him and Tucker, setting it down on the floor.

"Let's all have a bit, shall we?" said Sam, noticing how desperately hungry Tucker looked. She picked up a hammer from one of the workbenches and smashed the top so they could all get at the chocolate inside. Danny and Sam both took off a piece around the size of their hands, Tucker, on the other hand, took a piece off the size of _both _of his hands plus a little more. Sam rolled her violet eyes and took a bite out of her piece and Tucker attacked his piece, Danny, on the other hand, just took a small bite out of his. He wanted to prolong the time he took eating it so he could eat it for longer.

What a wonderful thing chocolate was; it seemed to take away all of his worries. More so by far than usual, in fact. Despite that, Danny found he could barely taste it, if at all. _It must just be one of those things… _he thought unhappily as he put the last bit of his piece of chocolate in his mouth. As he did so, Danny noticed tucker going back to the egg for thirds, and Sam pulling it swiftly away.

"Uh uh uh, no more! In case you haven't noticed this is _my _egg, not _yours_!"

"Yeah well, I don't save my eggs for three months!" Said Tucker trying to reach out to what was left of the one kilo chocolate egg.

"Your loss." Sam smirked. "I preserve mine so they last four months and I have a good supply. You just eat them all on Easter morning and have nothing left afterwards."

Tucker pouted and Sam made an evil grin at him. "Danny, do you want another bit?"

Frowning in thought, Danny replied. "No… I'm right thanks…" Even though he said he didn't want more, he wasn't actually sure. The novelty of taste had seemed to be mostly taken away, but on the other hand it seemed to fill him the warmth only chocolate could give times three or maybe even four.

"Well… okay then. You are sure, right?"

"No." said Danny rolling his eyes. Suddenly the trio heard the front door open. "Hey that must be mum and dad! Oh no… _mum and dad…_"

Jack and Maddie Fenton could be heard talking to each other from upstairs about the paranormal convention they'd just been to.

"Well I'm glad I bought those books on ghost studies." Maddie said happily. "It might work out the bugs from the ghost portal. Just think, we'll be able to prove the existence of ghosts!"

"And then we can examine what we find and perform tests on it!" Jack Fenton exclaimed excitedly. "In fact, let's go down and work on the portal right now!"

Danny gritted his teeth – would they believe him? If they didn't, what did they mean by _tests_? As the couple walked down the stairs, their eyes opened in shock, to them, they saw Sam, Tucker, a whopping great one kilo milk chocolate Easter egg, the ghost portal working and fully functional, and a _ghost boy sitting on the floor._

"Suffering spooks!" Jack cried. "A ghost! A real live ghost!"

Danny tried to speak; his mouth was moving but no sound came out. He was too nervous. He looked over at Sam and Tucker desperately.

"Err… Mr. and Mrs. Fenton…?" Sam said to Jack uncertainly. "I know this sounds really, _really _weird, but that's Danny, the worst part is, I'm not joking."

"What are you talking about?" Maddie said in confusion. "That's not Danny, for starters Danny's eyes are blue, not emerald, his hair is black, not white, and Danny isn't a ghost. That is, a ghost."

"Mum… Dad…" Danny said weakly. "Help me out of this mess…"

"We're not your mother or father." Said Jack, eying the ghost on the floor suspiciously. "We're the parents of Danny and Jazz Fenton, not you. However much you might look like out son."

"But… that's why I look a lot like your son…" Danny explained. "I _am _your son, I activated the portal… …and _this _happened…"

Suddenly Danny realized he was sinking through the floor. Gravity was pulling him down, he couldn't control his own intangibility.

"What the!?" Danny said, his head almost under the floor, gravity was pulling him down. He had to come back up, but if he made himself tangible again, he'd get jammed in the floor. "Help!!"

Jack and Maddie Fenton _couldn't _just lose the first ghost they ever saw, they ran over at break-neck speed making Sam and Tucker jump out of the way as they grabbed Danny's hand, (the only part of him still above the floor) and pulled the incredibly light ghost up and out, where he turned tangible again and sighed with relief. His parents put him down on the ground.

"Thank-you so much…" Danny replied to them gratefully. "Now can we focus on trying to make me normal again…?"

"What _are _you talking about?" Maddie asked.

"I'm your son!" Danny said in a semi-explosion of urgency. "My name is Danny Fenton and I am fourteen years old! My best friends are Sam Manson and Tucker Foley! My sister is Jazz Fenton! My mother and father are Maddie and Jack Fenton! I go to Casper High and live in Amity Park! I walked into the Fenton Portal today and got zapped then came out like this! Please just believe me and try to do something!"

"_Danny!?_" Maddie and Jack said in unison, their faces painted with shock.

_-End Chapter 2-_

**Author's Note:**

I'm not sure how good this chapter was or if it could have been better. I might look over it sometime but I'll let you readers decide! It was a struggle getting this chapter done tonight, (I'm trying to do a chapter a day for any story) because Thursday night is homework night! (Groan…) Never mind, I'm pleased I got to write it all out.

Peace,  
MoonlightUmbreon


	4. Unbelievable

**Disclaimer:**

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I don't own Danny Phantom! (or Jak and Daxter, considering it is briefly referenced)

**Author's Note:**

Okay, at the moment I'm juggling three stories so you'll probably get one update a day on one or the other… or the other. Thanks for reading everyone!

**Chapter 3: Unbelievable**

"Our son's a _ghost_?" Maddie said, still in shock. "Hold on… We told you not to mess with the portal!"

"I know, and I did anyway, and I'm sorry! But please help me out of this mess!" said Danny pleadingly. "How am I meant to live like _this_?"

"Well… it may be possible to make something that can reverse genetic changes. Right Jack?"

Jack said nothing. His mouth moved up and down, but there wasn't a sound to be heard. Maddie turned back to Danny.

"Yes, as I was saying, we could make something that would reverse your genetic profile, but…"

"But what?" Danny asked desperately.

"…But it could take months… Possibly even a year to create something so advanced…"

"What!?" Danny yelled as he buried his head in his hands. "Why does this remind me of Jak and Daxter…?"

Sam and Tucker patted Danny on the back until eventually he accidentally became intangible in that place, making their hands slip through. They retracted their arms at the same time, flinching when it happened.

"I need some time to think…" Danny said, looking extremely depressed. Standing up, he directed himself towards the stairs so he could get to his room to clear his head. Jack was still speechless, however he blocked the stairs just in time to stop Danny going up them. Or at least, what he thought would stop Danny. As complete coincidence, when Jack blocked the stairs one second before Danny got to them Danny ended up turning intangible unwillingly and walking right through his father and up the stairs anyway.

Sam and Tucker tried to follow, but Danny's parents stopped them.

"Danny was always hesitant of going near that portal, did you two convince him to do what he did?!" said Maddie, looking like she could breathe fire at any second. Sam and Tucker hung there heads.

"We were only curious to see if we could make it work Mrs. Fenton…" Tucker said guiltily. "Then we saw a loose wire, so we soldered it back on and thought it would work properly, we never thought anything like this would or even _could _happen…"

"You two are in a world of trouble!" Maddie said angrily, placing her hands on her hips. "If I tell your parents…"

"Please don't!!" Sam pleaded. "They'll never let me see Danny again, and neither will Tucker's parents! Not because we convinced him, but because if they find out he's a ghost now they'll flip!"

"And I wonder why I don't. Perhaps it would be better if I did so you couldn't see him again!" Maddie said, scowling at the two, making them flinch.

"Please, no! We're his only friends!" The two teens said in unison, pleading etched into their face.

"… Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, consider yourselves _very _lucky!" Maddie said, gritting her teeth as she spoke. "I wouldn't let you off if you weren't the only friends Danny has and the only people who would actually understand the situation he's in now! I suggest you go now while we figure out exactly how to fix this mess with him!"

The two teens who were now as speechless as Jack bolted for the front door of the Fenton's house as fast as their legs would carry them; they had never seen Mrs. Fenton this angry and it was most unusual. Yet in this situation, understandable. Even Jack looked shocked at her verbal explosion.

Meanwhile, Danny had just reached his room. He lay on his bed and looked up at the roof blankly, staring. If his mother was right, he really would be spending from months to years in this current form. He didn't know how he could possibly do it.

As he looked upwards, he fell through the bed and landed on the floor underneath. Annoyed, he went to roll out from below the bed, but instead, he wondered if he could control his intangibility. With all his mind he thought _Intangible _and did so so strongly that he wondered whether he said any of the word himself. He did go intangible, but in a way it backfired, he instead fell through the floor towards the lounge room underneath, and to make it worse, his brain went in slow motion. As he was falling just before he would hit the floor, his desperation seemed to stop him in midair where he stayed suspended.

"Hey! What the?!" Danny exclaimed in shock and surprise. "What's going on?!"

Maddie and Jack dashed into the room at the shout, wide eyed and shocked at what they were seeing.

"Err… I can't really explain this." Danny said truthfully to them. They stared at him, the silence was awkward, so he let himself down to the ground. He didn't know how he could fly in midair, he just simply _could_.

"…While we're down here, we need to ask something of you." Maddie said, breaking the silence and grabbing Jack's hand, pushing him closer to his son. Jack seemed to be reluctant to do so, however. "_Don't we Jack?_" she added, eying him annoyingly because he wouldn't talk.

Finally clearing his throat, Jack spoke up. "We want to perform some tests on you. After all, you are the only ghost we've ever seen."

Danny stared at them. "I have a horrible accident and all you want to do is perform tests on me." he replied coldly.

**Author's Note:**

Well, there you have it, chapter 3. It may need to be improved, I'm not sure, I'm really tired tonight. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the story so far. Please review on what you think, if anyone feels that one of them are out of character, please tell me. And I know Maddie may be out of character a bit, but wouldn't you be angry too if you were in her situation?

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	5. Ectopuses

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Danny Phantom.

**Author's Note:**

Thanks to everyone who read or reviewed, I really appreciate it. And considering I got a small writer's block on The Secret's Out, (well, not so much a writer's block, more like a writer's boredom…) I will have more time to update this. I will continue The Secret's Out when I get some new ideas for it.

**Chapter 4: Ectopuses **

"But sweetie, think how much we could learn from you!" Maddie said pleadingly. "We could learn a great amount of things from you by performing tests. Surely you wan to help the worlds knowledge of ghosts?"

"I beg to differ." Danny replied stiffly. "Just because this happened I'm not going to become your guinea pig."

At that, Danny walked past them and back up the stairs to his room again. Both Maddie and Jack looked thoroughly disappointed.

"Hey Mads, why don't we hold off making something that can reverse his genetic structure for a little while so we can perform some tests without him realizing? He won't find out."

"I don't know Jack…" said Maddie uncertainly. "Wouldn't that be manipulating him for our needs?"

"Well, he won't know, we'll just say that it's taking longer than we thought it would." Jack said, grinning.

"Jack, I'm still not sure whether or not it's right… He _is _our son, no matter how intangible he happens to be."

Maddie knew she wanted to perform those tests, badly at that, but she couldn't really bring herself to do them considering Danny was unwilling. And it was completely unethical just to hold off making something to reverse his genetic structure…

Danny was in his room again, the door closed and locked so no one could get in. He paced, wondering what he was to do about school. He'd most probably have to be home-schooled now, going to school as he was now and convincing them that he was Danny Fenton would be bound to give someone a heart attack. Suddenly Danny felt a shiver down his spine and a wisp of blue mist issued from his mouth. That was quite odd, normally that only happened in the cold whether; not in the Summertime. He could feel a presence in the room, so he looked around for it from corner to corner, but found nothing whatsoever. Dismissing the feeling as just something odd, Danny went to sit down at his desk and opened his laptop to add to the PowerPoint animation he was making, just to take his mind off what was going on today.

On Danny's back came a small tap. Danny turned around swiftly but saw nothing. He was about to turn back to his computer when two green, floating octopuses melted into his vision.

"AAAH!" Danny yelled, looking at the hideous specters. Acting on impulse, Danny punched one of them right away, sending it flying into the wall. It slid to the floor, looking as if it couldn't move. Danny never knew he could put so much power into a punch like that. The one that was left, however, sprayed ink into his face. Danny wiped it from his eyes and jumped off his chair, ready to throw another punch at it. The octopus, or as Danny thought, _ectopus_, fired another blast of ink at him, this one thicker and more concentrated so that he could barely move. Struggling to wipe more of the ink off of his face, he realized that if he could turn intangible the ink should just fall off. So he had another go, and it worked! This time, however, instead of falling through the floor, he made sure he was airborne. Danny saw the ectopus take a lunge at him, so he stayed intangible and it went straight through him. Danny turned to it, let himself become tangible again and made a dive-punch at it, hitting it between the eyes and sent it slamming into the closet door. The two ectopuses had obviously had quite enough and hightailed it out of there, flying out through the window.

"I… did that…?" Danny said in amazement at his own strength. "I can't believe I did that!"

Maddie and Jack stared at the screen that was connected to the security camera in Danny's room. They were amazed at what their son could do and that he had just fought off two malicious ghosts with only his own strength.

"Jack… actually I think we really should perform some tests on him… I've never seen someone throw such a powerful punch. It may have been shock or impulse thing, but…"

Danny looked around the room, on the floor was the ink spray that he had let slip off him, and on the wall and closet door was a ton of bright green goop that steadily oozed downwards right where those creatures had been slammed into. Danny cringed at the horrible sight, neither of the marks looked to friendly, and he didn't know how to get them off, or even if he could get them off. He was going to call out to his mum so she could help him do something about it, but he heard a knock on the door as if they already knew. Maybe it was his yell.

"Danny, can I come in?"

Danny let himself drop to the floor and unlocked the door so his mother could enter. As she came in she looked at the mess made by the ectopuses.

"I was attacked by flying green octopuses!" Danny exclaimed as he pointed at the mess they had made.

"You were attacked?!" Maddie said in false shock. "Thank goodness you're okay! And… ugh… It's left ectoplasm and ink everywhere…"

"How do I get rid of it?" Danny asked, not wanting to keep his room like that. It looked horrible and the ectoplasm glowed.

"You go out, I'll clean it." Maddie said kindly. Danny went to pick up his laptop but refrained from doing so incase he accidentally turned intangible again and dropped it. He walked out of the room and down to the lounge room and sat on the couch to wait for the time where he could go back up and us his computer, hoping it would be soon so he couldn't be cornered by his dad about experiments.

_-End Chapter 4-_

**Author's Note:**

I enjoyed writing that, although I am unsure of what I'm going to put in the next chapter, however. Please review and thanks for reading.

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	6. Night Fright

**Disclaimer:**

I never have owned Danny Phantom, and unfortunately for me, I never will.

**Author's Note:**

Wow, you wouldn't believe how many story favorites and alerts this fan-fic has gotten, I never knew people would take so much interest in it! Thanks everyone for reading, even if you didn't review. Those who did get an extra big thanks. Enough of my babbling anyway, without further ado, here's chapter 5!

**Chapter 5: Night Fright**

_Later that night…_

Danny looked at the time and yawned. It was one-thirty in the morning but he just wasn't tired until now. His parents had given him the day off school tomorrow to figure out whether they could make his appearance change or home school him. Despite the way he looked now, despite Dash and the rest of the jocks, Danny wanted to go back to Casper High. Being home-schooled would be somewhat depressing, at least at Casper there were people…

Danny removed his jumpsuit and replaced it with a pair of pajamas. They had a fluffy feel to them compared to a hazmat suit, which was tight and clinged to his skin, although he never could be bothered to change it during the day. Danny turned the lights off and noticed that the eerie white glow he was giving off in normal light intensified in the dark. As he slipped into bed, the sheets held no warmth for him. Even as he lay there for a few minutes, they just wouldn't warm up. And _this_ was a Summer night we're talking about. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either. It was just… nothing. Danny had lost the ability to feel temperature. While this in ways was good, he knew that he may miss the feeling of the icy spray of the ocean or the hot northerly winds on a heat wave, in a crazy unexplainable kind of way.

Just as the clock ticked three o'clock that night, Danny was finally dismissed of his thoughts as he drifted off into a deep sleep. Just before he woke up that night, although he remembered nothing of the dream prior to this, he found that he dreamt something calling him, something sinister…

_Stay asleep my sweet… Stay asleep… For eternity… Stay asleep… _

At this Danny sat bolt upright, snapping him out from the horrible sweet unearthly voice. Although it sounds like a clash of description, that was exactly what Danny thought of it. And to his great dismay, just as he was about to get comfortable in bed again, his uncontrolled intangibility stepped in, making him fall through his bed, through his bedroom floor and finally he smashed into the lounge room floor, where his sister was in the lounge room, watching an early morning documentary titled 'A History of Yellowstone, Super Volcano'. She stared at Danny with eyes widened. Obviously, their parents had '_forgotten_'to tell Jazz (Jasmine) about the accident he had had. The glow he gave off made an eerie white light around the darkened room.

Groaning and rubbing his back, Danny picked himself up and looked at his sister.

"Oh my God it's a ghost!!" Jazz said in shock. "OH MY GOD, MUM! DAD! THERE'S A GHOST KID DOWN HERE!!"

As Jazz yelled out, Danny smacked himself in the head. "No, Jazz, it's… it's me! _Danny!_"

"You're not Danny!" Jazz cried. "You're trying to trick me! You came from that retched ghost portal, didn't you?! Get away!"

"But I am Danny! I-" Danny was cut off by his parents bolting down. He now confirmed in his mind that they were completely over the borders of being eccentric and way over past the horizon.

"Ghost!? Where- oh that's just Danny, Jazz." Jack said, looking over at his daughter.

"Wait, you're not telling me that _that's _really Danny?! What on earth happened?! _And why did you not tell me?!_"

"We were going to tell you in the morning dear!" Maddie assured. "But you did get home at one in the morning from that study group. We thought it would be best just to leave it until the morning considering Danny was in his room. And by the way, why are you down here at five-thirty in the morning? The only reason Jazz is because this documentary will be helpful in her project on volcanoes."

Danny looked up. "I… sorta had a bad dream and accidentally phased downwards and fell here." He said, pointing at the roof. Jazz was still staring at him as though he was from another planet. As Danny noticed his parent's looking for some early-morning tests to apparently see 'if he was okay', Danny quickly added "I'm fine. Seriously, I am fine." to the end.

"Well… okay." Maddie said, however there was still concern in her voice. "But go back to bed now. We'll explain to Jazz exactly what happened."

Danny turned around the corner and walked up the stairs, noticing Jazz still looking at him with eyes open wide. Although he knew perfectly well that he could just drift upwards through the ceiling to get to his room, he didn't. Old habits really do die hard, in this case, automatically taking the same route to his room every time.

Hoping against hope that nothing like that would happen to him again, Danny slid back under the sheets of his bed, not getting another wink of sleep for the rest of the night. At nine in the morning, he made a tired groan knowing he wasn't going to get any more sleep and got up thinking _What a night…_

_-End Chapter 5-_

**Author's Note:**

Well, after three hours and a roast dinner after the disclaimer, the chapter is done. I hope you all enjoyed it and until next time,

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	7. Breakfast

**Disclaimer:**

I D.O N.O.T O.W.N D.A.N.N.Y P.H.A.N.T.O.M! (Or the Peruvian Death Pepper, originally seen in a Garfield comic. I don't even know why I'm disclaiming that!)

**Author's Note:**

Well it's now time for chapter six, and as always I'd like to thank everyone who's supported me with it. That includes those who just read it. This is easily by far the most entertaining (for me) story I have written and I hope you like it too. My mouth was watering writing the first half of this chapter… Now I'll quit my babbling and let you get on with the story.

**Chapter 6: Breakfast**

Danny was originally an insomniac, however being a ghost had seemed to worsen the condition, last night as proof. But this time, he was able to get up with ease and without feeling as though he was going to drop to the floor at any moment.

The morning sun shone in through the window, the birds chirped happily and a slight breeze was blowing the trees. It was a normal day in Amity Park, for everyone except him. He was doomed to be confined to his own house, like a spread-out jail cell. Danny looked out the window longingly, not knowing whether he'd be able to go outside anytime soon. He couldn't even get Tucker or Sam over considering they'd be at school. That would mean Jazz would be gone, too. Not that Danny really cared about that.

Danny shook the thoughts from his head and opened his wardrobe. It revealed white shirt with bits of red after white shirt with bits of red after white shirt with bits of red after jeans after jeans after jeans… Why did his mother never buy something different? Not that it mattered, but…

Danny pulled on the usual clothes (as usual) and headed down to the kitchen for breakfast. A delicious smell wafted from it too, making Danny quicken his steps. He could hear the frying pan crackling from there and Danny knew that his mother was cooking something special. As he walked into the kitchen, bacon and eggs were sizzling away, with Maddie at the stove.

"I thought I'd give you a treat this morning, Danny." she said kindly. "You went through a lot yesterday."

"Gee… thanks!" Danny replied, who had only been expecting a mere bowl of cereal. His mother grabbed a plate and put it next to the frying pan, using a spatula to pile it up on Danny's plate. Maddie certainly didn't let you go hungry, considering she was piling so much more breakfast than Danny could ever eat. After she had finally finished, Danny grabbed a knife and fork from the draw and then took his plate, sitting down at the dining room table.

He licked his lips; this smelt _really _delicious, so Danny immediately put his knife through a strip of bacon and ate it, waiting for the equally-as-delicious taste to take effect.

But then he waited some more… and a little bit more… but barely anything came. Just a tiny little drop of taste came, but nothing more. Danny slumped in his chair and continued to eat the almost-tasteless bacon and eggs without nearly as much enjoyment as he should have. The bacon was just rubbery without most of the taste, and therefore, not nearly as enjoyable. Maddie looked at Danny curiously.

"What's wrong…? Didn't I cook them enough?" she queried after surveying his slump and realizing he wasn't shoveling the meal down as he usually would have.

Danny hesitated before answering. He didn't know why, it was only his mother, but nonetheless, he hesitated. "I can barely taste it at all… I can smell it all right but…"

Maddie looked at Danny, sympathy showing over her face. "We'll find a way to reverse it, Danny, I promise."

Danny suddenly realized something that made his insides squirm and also made him feel sick. "But how are you supposed to revive someone who's already dead…?"

"Don't be silly, Danny. You're just infused with ectoplasm from portal's ecto-filtrater." Maddie said reassuringly, although now that he had mentioned what was on his mind, she seemed a little doubtful on his status. "We'll do whatever it takes to get you back to normal! Danny, just remember there was no body, so you're not dead yet."

"But what if it really was fatal and I got vaporized or something?!" said Danny, slightly alarmed that his mind was coming up with unwanted conclusions. "What if I'm not just infused with the ectoplasm from the filtrater and I really am dead?! You can't make a dead person live again anymore than you can change the laws of time and space… What if I'm just stuck like this forever…?"

Maddie hugged her son and patted him on the back. "It's okay… We'll find something. Don't you worry about it…"

Danny nodded glumly then stood up from the table, not really wanting the last quarter of his meal. He didn't get why he could smell but couldn't taste well, really you can't have one without the other. He headed back to his room, this time remembering that he was a ghost now, and therefore could fly and become intangible, so he took the quick route there much to his mother's surprise.

As Danny looked out the window for the second time this morning, he couldn't stand staying inside for any longer. Even though he'd been in a shorter time than many others, it was the knowledge that he'd have to stay here and be seen by no one else in case they worked out the resemblance. He wished he could just turn invisible and go walk outside without being noticed at all…

Danny wanted it so much, that suddenly he even _thought _he was invisible. Then he looked at his hands, his non-existent hands. He _was _invisible.

_-End Chapter 6-_

**Author's Note:**

Sorry the chapter was up a day late, but I was having a mad battle with a virus last night and eventually I managed to kill it. Trust me, that thing was a nightmare. But now it's gone and I can post this. I hope you enjoyed reading it and please review.

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	8. A Prank Gone Awry

**Disclaimer:**

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't own Danny Phantom! And if you think I do now after all these disclaimers, you really are one _seriously _crazed-up fruit loop.

**Author's Note:**

I'm addicted to writing this story and not the others! (Writer's block sucks!) I'm so addicted that I've been thinking about it right through school and getting up at 7am just to type it! Anyways, thanks for the reviews guys. I really do appreciate it and I'm so glad you like the story. Now it's time for Chapter 7!

**Chapter 7: A Prank Gone Awry**

Danny was grinning at this ability; this meant he could go anywhere without anyone having to notice him. He climbed onto the window ledge and tried to stay suspended in midair; the hard part wasn't staying airborne but getting there in the first place. With a far from graceful jump, Danny managed to do it. He flinched at the sight of how far in the air he was at first, but then the fear seemed to subside.

He knew that he would pay for leaving the safety of his house later, but for now Danny really didn't care that much. Under the cloak of invisibility, he could do pretty much anything he wanted. And the first thing he wanted to do was not sneak into a movie undetected, but to see Tucker and Sam regardless of school hours and tell them he forgave them, because he had heard his mother's yell carry from the basement to his room, and something told him that they'd be a little hesitant about seeing him afterwards.

Danny began to unsteadily fly towards Casper High, making sure he stayed invisible all the way, worrying about what might happen if he suddenly let it go and was seen. _But, nonetheless… _Danny thought. The wind whipped in his face minus the cold morning chill. It certainly was enjoyable, being able to fly like this, however Danny was uncoordinated in the air and often found himself wobbling and being thrown off-balance.

Casper High was now coming into view. The huge clock tower said it was one-quarter past nine, so Tucker and Sam would be in classes right now. Danny would just have to bide his time until when they got out to recess at ten thirty. Danny thought for a moment and realized he could finally do something he'd wanted to do for a long time…

Danny drifted downwards, finally landing just outside the main entrance of Casper High. He tried the door, but it was locked and Danny was about to turn the other way when he smacked himself on the forehead and phased himself through. Making sure he remained invisible, Danny approached the timetable computer and checked Dash's name, oblivious to the fact that someone had just come out of a nearby classroom, blinking stupidly with their mouth open. Danny took a while to realize the jock was standing their, and turned around to find Dash Baxter staring at the self-typing computer. Danny quickly pushed his finger on the backspace key, hoping Dash didn't see his name written there.

"This place is HAUNTED!" Dash yelled pointing at the computer that was typing by itself a moment ago. People streamed out of classes right left and center just to find out what Dash was yelling about. The computer stayed dormant as he pointed a shaky finger at it. People looked at him as if he needed to go to an insanity asylum. "I swear, the computer was typing itself!"

Danny needed to make a break for it; he was heading towards the front door when he realized his invisibility was flickering, he couldn't maintain it! People realized there was another among them and turned their heads, seeing a real, actual ghost attempting to run out of the doors undetected. They all pointed and gasped at the sight as Danny turned around to look at them briefly, with a slight amount of fear in his eyes. He then flew as fast as he could, phasing through the front doors and tried as best as he could to turn invisible, and this time it finally worked. He bolted all the way to his bedroom window and jumped in again, allowing himself to turn visible but didn't bother to land on his feet before he clutched his head in worry.

_AAGH! _Danny's mind screamed. _What if someone recognized me?! What will I do if they spread it, and it will be more believable from the mysterious disappearance of Danny Fenton! AAGH! How could I have been __**so **__stupid?!_

Jack barged in through Danny's bedroom door, and flinched at the sight of him floating in midair.

"D-Danny! We were wondering where you went!" Jack said, staring at him with eyes wide.

"Nowhere!" Danny said in a slightly high-pitch voice. "Nowhere at all!"

Jack frowned at him. "Well you weren't in your room a few minutes ago. I was going to look for you some more but then I remembered that the after-breakfast fudge was in the fridge and… you know!"

Danny thought on his feet; he'd always been good at covering things up. "I was… um… in the attic fishing something out."

"But how did _you _get into the attic…? The drop down ladder was up." Jack asked suspiciously. Danny phased his hand through the wall next to him in reply. "Oh. Right…" Jack said, blinking at him. Danny wondered if he would ever get used to him being a ghost for the duration he had to stay like this.

As Jack walked out of the room, Danny hooked his laptop up to the internet hoping that maybe Sam or Tucker would be on MSN during their lesson in the computer room. (Danny wasn't going to risk video chat in his current state when Tucker and Sam were at school) Danny waited for his computer to boot up and logged into the internet. No one was online on MSN when he looked, so he frowned and closed it. Danny spent the next hour surfing You Tube for funny videos to help brighten up his day a little when he found a video clip originally taken on a phone. Danny's stomach flipped when he saw the title, 'GhOsT kId In AmItY pArK!". He really didn't want to see this, but his curiosity overwhelmed him and he clicked it. It played a seemingly blank hallway in Casper High with a lot of people left and right, when Danny materialized out of nowhere, looked back to the crowd of people briefly then flew for it, melting out of vision just as he phased out of the door, then the clip ended. Someone had been filming Danny with a phone when the incident happened and wasted no time in posting it.

Danny gulped, he thought it was bad enough to be seen by the rest of Casper High, but now this? He was almost ready to faint, if only he had have turned back and decided not to play that stupid prank where he was going to give Dash a taste of his own medicine…

_-End Chapter 7-_

**Author's Note:**

Just before I conclude, I would like to say thanks to FernClaw for suggesting to make my chapters longer, but… I guess I prefer to have them up faster than making them longer. However, I will try to make them a little longer as I have seen many other people's fics and their chapters are so much longer than mine. D Now I just want to say this as a warning, my computer is going a bit weird lately, so if I don't post within a week, I've gone on holiday without notice or my computer needs to be fixed. However I'm not sure, it may be just getting a little moody and sometimes it does this. Sorry I just wanted to make sure that any 'unexplained' absences are explained. Anyways, I think it will be alright, so,

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	9. Better or Worse?

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Danny Phantom, and if you still think I do with all these disclaimers, there's something wrong. I also, for some strange reason, don't own Christmas.

**Author's Note:**

Thanks for reviewing everyone, it really is _greatly _appreciated. I would also like to say this, in Australia, tomorrow is the 1st of December! That means merry Christmas! We get to put up the tree on the 1st of December too. D

**Chapter 8: Better or Worse?**

Danny groaned and shut his laptop. He really had been stupid to think that nothing could go wrong. Now he had to hope that no one would recognize him, especially considering he was wearing his normal clothes too! What had he been thinking…? Danny decided to put on the jumpsuit again just incase anyone _else _saw him.

Looking at the time, it was twenty-five past ten. Danny, didn't want much to do with the internet at all now. He headed downstairs to the ghost lab just to see what his parents were planning on doing.

As he entered, they both jumped. Seems that both of them were a little nerve racked at the moment.

"Oh! Danny!" Maddie said in surprise, pushing the off button to something quickly. "We didn't expect you to come down here!"

"What was that?" Danny said, pointing to the button his mother had just pushed. "What did you just turn off?"

"Nothing!" Maddie and Jack said in unison. Danny eyed them suspiciously.

"It doesn't look like nothing. Besides, I thought you were trying to work on something to make me normal again."

"We are… but…" Maddie had a sudden brain wave, if she did this, Danny would think they needed to do the tests and they'd still get the data they wanted. "Well, we just found out we need to run some tests on you before we can start."

Danny's eyes narrowed, he didn't like the sound of this, his parents being ghost fanatics, might do any number of unpleasant things to him. "What _kind _of tests?"

"Well first we need a blood sample Danny-boy!" Jack said enthusiastically. "Then we'll need to run a cat scan and then… something else I can't remember the name of or what it does!"

"Oh great…" Danny said miserably. "What's the mystery test then?"

"I told you, I can't remember." Jack said, scratching the back of his head. "We're getting the stuff set up now, so go back upstairs."

"Can I watch?" Danny asked, wanting to see exactly what the mystery test was before he had to take it.

"No, go back upstairs and come down in a few hours sweetie." Maddie said. "I know you might be doubtful, but we really do need to perform these tests to be able to revert your genetic profile."

"Right… Okay then, I'm going." Danny said unhappily, walking back up the stairs and out of the room. Maddie looked at Jack, puzzled.

"So what is the mystery test, anyway?" she asked curiously.

"I don't know, but I'll think of something eventually!" Jack said enthusiastically. Maddie swatted her forehead.

Danny didn't want to turn himself invisible and go down there, in case it backfired again and he was seen spying on them. He was just about to see if there was anything that wasn't garbage on the television when that cold shiver down his spine and a wisp of blue mist issued again from his mouth. Danny figured it must have been a ghost sense when a small ghost fox cub popped out of the floor. It looked exactly like a normal fox except for the white glow it gave off. Danny thought it looked harmless and cute, bending down to pat it.

Bad mistake – it bit him sharply on his fingers, it's jaw locked in position.

"AAGHR! GET OFF OF ME!" Danny said, desperately trying to pull the fox off him. He struggled until the fox stopped biting his hand and scampered off someplace else, phasing through the lounge room walls, out into the backyard and beyond.

"First my invisibility goes haywire and now this?!" Danny shouted at the fox cub who was no longer in sight. He looked at his hand where it had been bitten and it began to heal incredibly fast. "Well at least that's one good thing…"

It was now eleven o'clock as Danny had been playing video games for the rest of the time. As he realized the time, Danny fished out his mobile phone from his bedside table in his room and called Tucker, who would inevitably be with Sam during recess.

"Hello…? Tucker Foley, prize date right here!" Tucker said in an attempt at a cool voice.

"Tucker, it's Danny. I don't think you really want to go on a date with me." Danny replied, rolling his eyes even though you couldn't see them through the phone.

"Dude, that was pretty risky what you did. You're very lucky no one figured out who you were."

"No one figured it out?!" Danny said, relieved but puzzled. "That's… quite surprising…"

"Yeah, especially since you wore the same clothes you always wear!" Danny heard Sam's voice in the phone. "Danny, why did you do it? I've already heard rumors that a kid was filming it on his phone and put it on You Tube!"

"I know they did, Sam, I saw it." Danny said unhappily. "I don't think anyone figured it out there though. Actually, could you ask Jazz if she could hack into that kids account and delete it or something? I know she knows how to do that."

"Yeah, okay." Tucker promised. "But why don't I just do it? They don't call me a techno-geek for nothing!"

"Y'know, that's probably a good idea." Danny replied.

"Well, we better go," said Sam, who'd probably just snatched the phone off Tucker. "We'll see you after school."

"Bye guys." Danny said as one of the two hung up. Danny replaced his phone back on the bedside table and sat down on his bed. Most of the worry had gone from being found out, and even if they suspected him after he was human again, he could just say that you had to be dead to be a ghost and he most certainly wasn't dead.

Danny opened up his laptop again and looked for that video again. Tucker had already deleted it, so Danny let out a sigh of relief, closing the computer again.

The rest of the day until just before school would finish Danny spent sketching. His drawings weren't the best, but it was surprisingly more entertaining than he thought it would be. He completely forgot about the tests, and after realizing he had, didn't really care anyway. His parents didn't even come up to fetch him.

_-End Chapter 8-_

**Author's Note:**

Considering my school got the day off today, I was able to get this up in record time! So, anyway, because of this I may be able to get another chapter up tonight. And on another note I killed the virus causing trouble for my computer and now it's working fine again. I used a free program called a-squared and it worked like a charm. So anyway, like always,

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	10. Hidden Cameras

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Danny Phantom. The only thing I own is the plot for the story, everything else goes to Nickelodeon and Butch Hartman.

**Author's Note:**

Wow, I really am getting addicted to writing. O.o My friends call it work out of school but oh well, I like it. Thanks to Thunderstorm101, New Ghost Girl, luckygirl777, Skandragon Blackheart and Naomi Yuko for reviewing the last chapter, I'm glad that people are reading! Now, I want keep you waiting any longer, (well, these brackets make it longer, but oh well) here's chapter 9! (Also sorry two chapters ago I misread the review page and realized it was Phantom Shade not Fernclaw. Sorry about that mix up. Anyway I will try and make them a tiny bit longer but unfortunately I can't promise anything. This chapter is not because as FernClaw said, there comes a point where you can't write any more without repeating youself.)

**Chapter 9:**

Danny heard a knock from the door – that would be Sam and Tucker. He exited his room and walked down the flight of stairs to the front door and opened it. It wasn't just Sam and Tucker, though, Jazz was with them too.

"Danny! What did you think you were doing?!" she said, with a mixture of anger and concern in her voice. "You have no idea how lucky you are!"

Danny didn't say anything as Jazz pinned him against the wall. "Promise me you won't ever do something so stupid again! _Especially _considering you were wearing the clothes you always wear!" Danny then phased through her arms, so she was no longer pinning him there.

"I promise, it was a stupid mistake that I won't make again… Trust me, I was worried too."

"Good, now if you need me I'll be in my room finishing my essay." Jazz replied, walking up the stairs to her room. Danny turned back to his two best and only friends.

"Are you still completely sure no one recognized me?" Danny asked, biting his lip.

"Only Dash, but he said he thought you looked a bit like one of his second cousins rather than you. The old you, I mean." Tucker added to avoid confusion that was completely obvious anyway.

"Oh good, that's a relief…" Danny sighed.

"Trust me," said Sam, with a smirk on her face. "It was even better when he called his parents thinking his second cousin was dead. He was already grieving."

Danny burst out laughing, and so did the others. "You've got to be joking!" he said. "Dash? That is too funny. I wish I was there."

"Look, I got pictures on my PDA!" Tucker added, offering it to Danny. Danny took it and scrolled through, each picture of Dash either bursting out in tears, or desperately calling his mother for more information.

"Seriously, you Photo-shopped this, didn't you?" Danny asked, looking at the pictures of the sulking jock. "These are great!"

"Yeah, but I have to delete them…" Tucker said sadly. "Dash threatened that he'd 'beat my brains out' if I kept them. You saw nothing of the pics, alright?"

"Right." Danny said, grinning. Sam's attention was placed on something else, however.

"Hey, is that a security camera?" Sam asked Danny, pointing to a corner in the roof. Danny's eyes widened.

"I'll be right back."

Danny became intangible and invisible, sinking through the floor to the basement. There he saw a small TV surveillance system that his parents were watching, quickly turning it off as they realized he was heading right down. As Danny reappeared in midair he looked at them angrily.

"You were _spying _on me?!" he demanded. "What gave you the right to _spy _on me?!"

Jack stared up at his son, looking guiltily. However, Maddie was cool and calm, giving Danny an answer immediately.

"We are doing it because not only will it help us understand the behavior patterns of ghosts, but it may also help us revert you to normal."

"How can that be helping?" Danny said angrily. "I can understand the blood sample and the cat-scan, but this is taking it too far!"

Maddie was lost for words; she had left her son fuming and it was her fault for agreeing to go straight to research and not to fixing the problem at hand.

"…We're sorry, Danny." Maddie said remorsefully. "I… just don't know what came over us, we've never even seen a ghost before. It's no excuse, but we couldn't contain ourselves…"

Danny shook his head before drifting up through the basement ceiling . "I can't believe you tried to do that to me."

As Danny reappeared through the floor, both Sam and Tucker flinched, obviously not expecting his reappearance like that. Danny immediately looked up at the camera. Eying it angrily, he drifted upwards and yanked it from the wall, causing a few electrical sparks to flicker from each end.

"And if I see any _more _cameras, _that's _what's going to happen to them!" Danny growled furiously, dropping the broken camera on the ground.

"Were they really spying on you?" Sam said, quite shocked at the thought. "I can't believe they'd do that to you, Danny!"

"Neither can I…" Danny said sadly, his mood had changed fairly quickly. "It… makes me wonder…"

"About what?" Tucker asked, quite obviously puzzled. Sam seemed to have the same expression, only a bit darker due to her gothic nature.

"That they're using me as a research opportunity… I don't actually think they've even had a go at figuring out what exactly they'd have to do."

Sam comforted the ghost in front of her that was one of her best friends. "Don't worry, I'm sure that even if they haven't started, that they will start soon."

_-End Chapter 9-_

**Author's Note:**

Well, I would have finished this chapter sooner although I was absorbed in reading other fanfiction last night and today was given up to rollerblading and going out to dinner. If you're _really, really _lucky, I might be able to dig out Chapter 10 in three or four hours, but really, it's stretching it. Anyways, please review!

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	11. From Bad to Worse

**Disclaimer:**

Look, I know it, you know it, everyone knows it. I _don't _own Danny Phantom.

**Author's Note:**

As I'm writing this now I wonder how long it'll take me to get it done. Who knows, I guess. Thanks to New Ghost Girl, FernClaw, Skandragon Blackheart, Thunderstorm101, luckygirl777 and Naomi-Yuko for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm going to start replying to all the reviews I get like I used too. I have more free time on my hands now anyways. Time for Chapter 10 of Forever a Phantom!

**Chapter 10: From Bad to Worse**

Danny finally realized he was not touching the ground and dropped to it so he was face-to-face with Tucker and Sam.

"Look, what do you want to do now?" said Danny in an attempt to change his own sad mood. "I'm up for _anything_ to take my mind off _everything._"

Tucker thought for a moment before answering. "Why don't we check out your abilities? That'd be cool!"

"We are not going to do that. Not going to happen." Danny said, shaking his head as a wisp of blue mist issued from his mouth and a shiver traveled down his spine. "Oh no…"

"What's going on…?" Sam asked, confounded. "What was that blue mist all about?"

"I… think it's a ghost sense…" Danny said, thinking of the three ghosts he had been attacked by; two ectopuses and a fox cub. "Oh no, not good…"

Right on cue, a ghost hamster popped through one of the walls. It would have looked like a normal hamster except for the fact it glowed white and it's body had a greenish tinge. It looked up at Danny, Sam and Tucker then scampered up through the inside of Tucker's pants and traveled as a little lump moving here and there, Tucker laughing uncontrollably.

"Get it out!" He barely managed to say through his laughter, Danny phasing his hand to where the lump was through Tucker's shirt and grabbed the hamster, pulling it out. It looked at Danny innocently, making him think everything was okay…

It wasn't okay when it bit down on Danny's thumb so hard he yelled out in shock and pain.

"GAH! Not again! Off, OFF!"

Danny turned his hand intangible and the hamster, instead of flying, fell to the ground like a rock with a snarl quite unlike the quiet noises normal hamsters made. Danny looked down at it threateningly as the hamster weighed it's odds, and realizing it had no hope, scampered off to some unknown location.

Danny looked at his thumb, watching it heal and then the glove slowly repair itself. Sam and Tucker gasped at the sight.

"Wow, you're healing pretty fast!" Tucker remarked. "How're you doing it?"

"I dunno… I think it's automatic." Danny said. "It did the same thing after I got bitten by that ghost fox cub earlier today."

"Cool." Tucker said, looking impressed.

"So… before the hamster, what are we going to do? I'm not risking going outside again… Even if they don't recognize who I am, the fact that I am what I am probably won't go down too well."

"Fair enough…" Sam said, a little downhearted. "Oh no! Lancer set us those essays, they'll take all night and they're due tomorrow!"

"NO! Not the seven page essays!" exclaimed Tucker, groaning at the end. "I'm sorry Danny, but we better go…"

"Oh…" Danny said sadly. "Well I guess I'll see you then."

"Yeah, tomorrow we'll visit, bye!" Sam replied. Tucker smiled and waved before heading back out the front door with her.

Danny sighed and sunk down to his parents lab, sitting down on an unused cardboard box, watching them go. Even though he wasn't invisible they failed to notice that he was there. Considering he wasn't risking going outside again, he stayed and watched, his parents so busy with something that they didn't even notice him before he left the room, saying goodnight on the way out. They didn't even stop for dinner, which was good, even though Danny hadn't eaten lunch but he wasn't hungry anyway – at all.

…_You know you want to… You know you want to stay asleep… To never wake up… never again to wake up dear…_

Danny, for the second night in a row, screamed and sat bolt upright. What on earth was that voice? It was soothing yet horrifying, kind but full of malevolence…

"Why do I keep dreaming that…?" Danny muttered sleepily, then repositioned himself on the bed, quickly falling asleep again.

--

Mr. Lancer was on the phone with Maddie at eight in th morning.

"No, he won't be attending school today Mr. Lancer. He was hurt from the explosion and he needs to stay at home." Maddie said sadly.

"Mrs. Fenton, I do understand, but he's missing out on some very important things." said a concerned Mr. Lancer. "From what I know, he's still able to do things, just coming to school may be too strenuous. I will come over to your house today and give him a few tutoring lessons so he doesn't fall too far behind."

"Oh, but really-" Maddie said desperately.

"Look, I'm sorry, but you have said earlier that he was fine, just probably unable to handle all the hype at school. I'm going to come over in an hour to see him. Have a good morning."

"You too…" Maddie said bitterly, replacing the phone onto the receiver. This teacher was persistent, there was no stopping him. She'd have to tell Danny he was coming.

_-End Chapter 10-_

**Author's Note:**

Oh no, Mr. Lancer's coming and Danny doesn't look like himself! I'm going to start writing the next chapter now. Please review!

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	12. Tutoring

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Danny Phantom, even if you think otherwise.

**Author's Note:**

Thanks for reviewing the last chapter luckygirl777, FernClaw and Thunderstorm101! This chapter may be longer than the others.

**Chapter 11: Tutoring**

Maddie knocked on Danny's bedroom door, but no answer was made, so she came in and attempted to shake her son out of sleep. And it probably would have worked if her hand hadn't slipped through him. She retracted quickly, Maddie didn't think she'd ever get used to this.

"Danny… Danny, wake up."

Danny stirred for a moment before opening his eyes and rolling over to look at his mother.

"Whazgoinon…?" he asked sleepily.

"Honey, Mr. Lancer's coming over to do some tutoring with you so you don't fall too far behind." Maddie said softly.

"WHAT?!" Danny yelled, now completely awake.

Maddie frowned. "He wouldn't take 'no' for an answer…"

Danny groaned and pushed the covers off himself while his mother gave him a worried look before walking out. Danny pulled a shirt and some jeans out of the wardrobe, putting them on, dragging a comb through his messy white hair and heading down for breakfast even though he wasn't hungry. Maddie passed him some toast that he reluctantly ate, still barely being able to taste it. It seemed that Jazz had already left.

The hour passed quicker than ever, and Danny had actually bothered to pull out a blank book with ruled lines, heading for the study for the lesson. This was what Danny called _seriously _nerve-wracking, Mr. Lancer wouldn't think that the accident had changed him much until he finally saw him face-to-face.

There was a knock on the front door, and Maddie went to answer it. Mr. Lancer looked around the clean home before finally asking, "Could I come in Mrs. Fenton?"

"Of course Mr. Lancer, but…" Maddie started. Mr. Lancer raised an eyebrow and looked inquisitively at her.

"But…?" Mr. Lancer repeated back. Maddie bit down onto her lip.

"I think I can tutor Danny myself." Maddie said almost desperately. "I do have a few year nine textbooks hanging around."

Mr. Lancer shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, but there is something in particular that he needs to learn and I know exactly where he is and what things he needs help with on it. I'm sorry, but I think it's best that I tutor him until he's ready to come back to school."

Maddie gritted her teeth and growled. "Fine, you can tutor him, but I'm warning you that he's not like he used to be. Before I let you, you must promise me that anything about Danny that you see will be kept secret and away from everyone else."

"Well, I can assure you that I will keep Mr. Fenton's privacy private, Mrs. Fenton." Mr. Lancer said reassuring her.

Maddie looked at him sternly, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "I hope for your sake you do." Mr. Lancer flinched at her expression, now not knowing what to expect about Danny after such a protective act from his mother.

--

Mr. Lancer opened the study door to find a boy sitting there with snow white hair, glowing emerald green eyes and an eerie white aura surrounding him.

"Harper Lee!" Mr. Lancer cried, bewildered. "You are Danny, _right?_"

"Yeah." Danny replied to his surprised teacher. "That's me."

Mr. Lancer just looked at him shaking his head, not only had his appearance changed, but his voice had become echoed and sounded quite strange. He also found his curiosity overwhelming his job to teach. "What kind of accident causes _this?_"

Danny looked up at his teacher for the first time today. "I don't really want to talk about it…"

"Are you sure?" Mr. Lancer asked worriedly.

"I'm sure." Danny replied. "Let's just get this lesson over with, okay?"

"Right." The teacher replied, trying not to keep looking at his student's new appearance. It was as if whatever accident he'd had had changed his genetic structure, but this was even more than that, this was just plain weird. No one possesses glowing emerald green eyes, an echo to their voice or that strange white glow. Although a few might have white hair, but that's beside the point.

"Alright…" Mr. Lancer began. "Danny, today we're going to learn some things about – what just happened then?!"

"Nothing!" Danny said quickly. "I just dropped the pen, that's all!"

"You're hand went light blue _and _transparent, then the pen dropped _through _it!" Mr. Lancer said, even more shocked than before. Danny looked up at him with his big green eyes. The way they glowed was quite unnerving, and yet they were filled with the same kindness and innocence they always had.

"You're not going to tell anyone about anything, right?"

"N-no, of course not." Mr. Lancer said, attempting to tear his gaze away from Danny's now normal hand. "A-as I was saying, today I'm going to teach you some extensions on algebra. I don't trust the textbooks to explain it properly with this kind of thing and that's why I'm here. Besides, I know exactly what you're up to in the subject."

"I still would have preferred it if you let mum do the tutoring…" Danny said bitterly. Mr. Lancer sighed and paused for a minute.

"You don't really want to be seen by me like this, do you?" He asked. "I understand that it must be quite hard, but rest assured, I won't tell anyone, and I'm not judging you by what's happening now."

"Thanks…" Danny replied, making a very small smile. "So what were you going to teach me…?"

--

Mr. Lancer left the Fenton household with plenty of things on his mind – aside from books, poetry and the algebra he was teaching Danny. He wondered why, or to put it better, _how _Danny's hand had turned completely intangible when the pen dropped through it, _how _there was a point when Danny's left arm seemed to disappear without a trace then suddenly reappear again, _how _his genetic structure had gone through such changes that his hair changed colour and his eyes glowed bright emerald green, _why _there was a white aura around him and most importantly; _what _could have changed his genetic structure in such a way that it allowed those things happen? First Mr. Lancer thought about Danny's intangible hand and invisible arm – what was that a common trait of? Nothing really… Nothing is able to do something like that. Except maybe a ghost, but that was preposterous – ghosts don't exist.

_-End Chapter 11-_

**Author's Note:**

Two chapters in one day! (Cheers) It's actually a tad longer than what I normally do, although not by much. You might think Lancer finding out was a bit 'why would you let him find out???' but I do need it for later on. So anyways please review, and you get a cookie if you can figure out who Harper Lee is!

Peace, (Really, there's not enough of it.)

MoonlightUmbreon


	13. Chocolate

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Danny Phantom.

**Author's Note:**

I guess I don't really have one. Thanks to Helwi, New Ghost Girl, FernClaw, Skandragon Blackheart, Thunderstorm101, Naomi-Yuko, luckygirl777 and ElusiveVisionary for reviewing! On to chapter 12…

**Chapter 12: Chocolate**

Danny bided goodbye to Mr. Lancer and remained in the study just to check over what homework he needed to do before tomorrow. It wasn't bad, only ten algebra sums to make sure he'd gotten the grasp of it. Danny made a mental note to do that later, when his mind had recuperated from the bombardment of maths he'd just worked through. Right now, he needed to rest his head from anything that even remotely made him think. He was so mentally drained that when he went to walk downstairs to the kitchen, he found himself walking on thin air rather than descending down the stairs. Not bothering to come down, Danny drifted into the lounge room where his father was eating the after-breakfast fudge and his mother was reading a book on ghosts from that paranormal convention they'd been to. Both his parents looked up at him.

"How did it go?" Maddie asked him, with a rather concerned look. "When Mr. Lancer left he said it was fine, but I want to hear it from you."

"Yeah, it was fine. The only thing wrong with it was that the maths made my head hurt."

"Maths never was my thing!" Jack said suddenly through a mouthful of fudge. "But look at me! I turned out alright!"

Danny looked down at the fudge and suddenly it felt like there was a great big gaping hole in his stomach. That was, if he still had one. Drifting through the air closer to his father, Danny dipped his finger in the bowel and ate the fudge clinging to his finger, resulting in Jack pulling the bowel away from him.

"This is my after-breakfast fudge!"

Danny felt the warmth take over him, not the taste. He wasn't sure why, but the chocolate seemed to be making a very good effect. None of the other delicious foods he'd eaten did this…

"I thought you didn't have a good sense of taste!" Maddie remarked, looking at Danny's expression.

"It's not the taste…" Danny replied contently.

Maddie and Jack stared at him. "What's the point of chocolate if you can't taste it?" Jack asked in confusion.

Danny had another try at getting his finger in the bowel, but Jack pulled it further away quickly. "This is better than taste!"

Jack looked at Danny as though he had lost his sanity. Maddie, however, had a more quizzical look on her face.

"And… no other food's done this?" she asked. Danny shook his head in reply. "There must be an ingredient in chocolate that does this. Or a combination of ingredients. Danny, what is it like?"

Danny thought for a moment. Truthfully, it was quite difficult to explain. There was warmth, but also some other feelings that Danny couldn't actually explain. He just remained silent.

"Danny?" His mother said in case he was daydreaming.

"Can't explain." Danny replied, making yet another grab for the bowl of fudge, his father putting it behind himself. Danny then reached through his father's body to the other side, getting another finger of fudge to his father's great surprise. As Danny pulled himself away, his father looked at him annoyingly.

"I keep forgetting he can do that." Jack said to Maddie as Danny dropped to the floor, walking out and licking his finger clean.

--

Danny sat in his room and wondered why the fudge of all things, or more the chocolate in the fudge could have that kind of effect. His parent's didn't know what they were missing out on. Pulling out his sketchbook and opening up his laptop, Danny searched over Google for pictures to draw. He found a good one with Bender from Futurama and decided to draw that. When he opened his sketchbook, Danny, unlike the previous times, took the time to look through at all the pictures he'd drawn in it. Some were real objects, that included the ghost portal when it wasn't activated, and others were just cartoon-ish pictures.

Three of hours later, as well as around six or seven pictures later, Danny replaced his sketchbook under his bed and shut his laptop down as his mother called him for lunch. Yet again, he did not feel like eating, and he was doubting on whether or not he actually needed to do so.

Maddie placed a plate with some pieces of cheese and a chicken sandwich in front of Danny. He looked at it unhappily, and Maddie, noticing this, looked over at him from the bench where she was making Jack's lunch.

"What's wrong? Aren't you hungry?"

"Not really." Danny replied, picking up a piece of cheese and eating it. "I just don't feel like eating much anymore."

"Just eat it anyway." Maddie said to her son. "It's good for you."

Danny agreed, wondering if he actually needed to eat in his current state and if he did, did it actually do any good?

_-End Chapter 12-_

**Author's Note:**

Hm? Why the chocolate? I chose chocolate because they also call it a "comfort food". Since this is an AU story, I wanted it to have a different effect on ghosts than other foods because of that. (don't worry, I'm not going to make Danny gorge himself on chocolate for the entire fic, this was just a little extra I decided to put in and references to it will only appear very occasionally) What I can't believe was that this, being a filler chapter, was harder to write than the rest! That's why it took so long DON'T KILL ME! I should update again tomorrow. And it won't be a filler.


	14. Friends

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Danny Phantom. I never have and I never will.

**Author's Note:**

Firstly I'd like to thank Skandragon Blackheart, New Ghost Girl, Naumi Yuko, Thunderstorm101, Phantom Shade, Fernclaw and luckygirl777 for reviewing, and everyone who has read this far. I do it for you guys!

**Chapter 13: Friends**

A knock came from Danny's front door. That would be Sam, Tucker and Jazz getting back from school. Danny opened it to find that it was them, minus Jazz.

"Jazz stayed back to do some study at the library." Sam explained. "Honestly I don't know how she can stand spending more time at school than she actually needs to."

"Just going to stand there or are you coming in?" Danny questioned his two best friends as they steeped through the door. "So, anything interesting?"

"…Apart from me becoming Dash's new favorite, no." Tucker said. "It's so boring without you around…"

Danny frowned. "It's not like I can help it. I'd much rather be normal Danny Fenton and go to school rather than stay locked inside my own house and be home-schooled by Lancer…"

"Wait, you're being home-schooled by _Lancer_?!" the two said in unison.

"I'm not kidding…" Danny said, looking at their shocked faces. "Apparently he wouldn't take no for an answer, despite mum's A streak right through school and university. And now he's going to be coming over every weekday at nine!"

"Man, that must suck." Tucker replied. "How did he react when he saw you?"

"He stared." Danny said. "I think he was finding it hard to take his eyes off me. I'm pretty sure I gave him a fair fright when he first came in. He probably found that even harder after my intangibility when haywire and my pencil slipped through my hand…"

"That's tough…" Tucker said. "I mean, Lancer in your own house. Really, that's tough."

"I guess…" Danny said. "But… I'm having my doubts on that…"

Sam and Tucker looked at each other incredulously.

"You _what_?!"

"Well… I don't think that he's the jerk I always thought he was. Sure, he stared, but… He didn't linger on it. After a minute he just got straight to the maths and attempted to treat me as normally as possible. What I'm wondering is how I'm going to effect him; he's always said my parents are brilliant scientists but they shouldn't be focusing on something as make-believe as ghost hunting. Something tells me that me, being living proof that they exist has given him a lot to think about. So really… it's incredible he managed to teach me anything at all."

"Dude, you think too much." Tucker replied. "And they say that you're unobservant. C'mon, time for some mindless video-games considering you can't go outside anywhere. Who's with me?"

Sam rolled her eyes at Tucker. He couldn't think about anything else other than his precious technology. Nothing. Well, maybe his friends, but that was besides the point. "I guess so."

Danny nodded too. The normal kid stuff sounded good to him at the moment, although he still wanted outside. Very much so, did he want outside. But he knew it wasn't going to happen, not in his current state.

--

Two hours of mindless video games, 41 character deaths and nine dropped controllers from Danny later, the three got board. As entertaining as video games were, they couldn't entertain you forever.

"Hey, now that Jazz's home let's play a little _invisible_ prank on her…" Tucker said mischievously. Danny couldn't help but agree; he might not want to be a ghost, but that didn't mean that he couldn't have fun with it. Sam shook her head and rolled her eyes. _Boys…_

Danny turned himself invisible just outside her door and phased through it, his sister not noticing anything. Sam and Tucker watched through the little eyepiece used to see through to the other side of the door. Danny crawled under her desk, from which she was working on her own laptop. Danny became visible where she couldn't see him and then, making his head intangible, Danny suddenly poked it through the desk, making Jazz nearly join the astronauts and scream so loudly that Tucker and Sam were wondering if their ears would survive. However, all three Danny, Sam and Tucker burst out laughing, walking into the room.

"Oh, real mature Danny!" Jazz said angrily at Danny, who walked out of the desk, joining his friends who were laughing, Sam in spite of herself. "Out, out of my room! Out! Maybe if you're enjoying this so much I might be able to convince mum and dad to stop making the 'Fenton Genetic Reversal System', or something like that!"

All three of them stopped laughing, although it was hardly likely to be a real threat, they wouldn't push it. That was a sign she was angry enough. However as the three friends raced back to Danny's room and burst out laughing again.

"Dude, did you see her face?! That was priceless!" Tucker said, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Yeah, it was pretty funny." said Sam afterwards. "Although I feel horrible laughing over it, but I can't help myself… You just had to see her face."

Danny smiled. Maybe, just maybe, this wasn't a bad thing after all. Sure, it had its downsides, but then it also had its upsides too.

_-End Chapter 13-_

**Author's Note:**

Sorry about the late update, writers block… Don't you just hate it?"


	15. Flight?

**Disclaimer:**

This is the last disclaimer I'm putting in, because by now it should be blatantly obvious that I don't own Danny Phantom.

**Author's Note:**

Well, now that I got rid of the last chapter that was excruciatingly hard to write, I think I'm going to enjoy this one. I've been wanting to get to it for a while. Thanks to Skandragon Blackheart, New Ghost Girl, FernClaw, Naomi-Yuko, Thunderstorm101, luckygirl777, Skating Queen and Helwi for reviewing! Couldn't do it without you all…

**Chapter 14: Flight?**

Danny awoke suddenly that night. Looking at his clock, it was bordering on twelve. He wasn't tired; he seemed to need much, much less sleep now.

The night was silent; no people were heard, no cars revved, not even the crickets chirping that normally chirped in the Summer. Rolling over and attempting to get back to sleep, Danny couldn't. He yearned to escape his prison of a home, and there was no one outside… Besides, he looked different enough from Danny Fenton when he wore the jumpsuit.

Silently, Danny phased through the covers of his bed and moved to the closet, pulling the jumpsuit out. He ended up fighting a midair battle trying to struggle it on over his pajamas as he didn't want to be heard by thumping the floor accidentally by losing balance. Finally completely on, Danny approached the window. He wouldn't be gone long, maybe just ten minutes. It was unlikely that his family would get up, and even then, bother to check his room.

Danny flew out of his open window, still unsteady in midair, although a lot better than he had been. The wind whipped in his face as he flew further from the Fenton Works, the parked cars were like mere ants at this height. Danny didn't know where his fear of heights had gone, but it definitely wasn't with him. There was no fear of falling, whatsoever. Maybe this sort of thing just happened naturally…

--

After ten very, very short minutes, which Danny had taken the care to time on his watch had gone, he sighed and headed back home. Really he didn't want to, but staying out longer might be pushing it.

Danny returned to his bedroom window to find his mother looking at him angrily as he returned. This was not a good sign, he'd have to make something up; something totally believable, and fast.

"Daniel Fenton! What did you think you were doing?!" she yelled as he flew back in through the open window, setting his feet back onto the ground. Danny flinched, he still hadn't thought of anything, unless…

"Mum! I was attacked again! You've gotta believe me! It was this… ghost, it looked just like a normal person, and it didn't say anything! All it did was attack, and then the fight got outside and went further away! Then after about ten minutes the ghost just fled and I came back. I swear!"

Maddie looked at him angrily. "You're still in trouble, but I'll give you points for thinking on your feet. Why did you go outside?"

Danny hung his head down. "Because this house is beginning to feel like a jail cell… I needed to get out! And when I couldn't get back to sleep, there was no noise from outside or anyone, so I went…"

Maddie's expression went from angry to somewhat sympathetic. "I know how it must feel… It must be horrible having to stay inside, but rest assured, your father and I are working this out, bit by bit, piece by piece."

"You don't know how I feel!" Danny yelled suddenly, not knowing why his anger was running wild like this. "I have to sit in this house! When Tucker and Sam come over, I still can't go outside or do anything! I can't go to the movies, I can't hang out like a normal kid, I can't even go to school! You have no idea what this is like!"

"Danny, calm down…" Maddie said, placing her hand gently on his frozen shoulder. "It'll be okay, we'll fix it. It was no one's fault, and it was a simple accident what happened to you. I promise, we will get you back to normal."

Danny allowed his anger to subside. What brought it on, he didn't really know. "Sorry…"

"It's alright sweetie… Now go to bed and get some rest, okay?"

Danny nodded, pulling the jumpsuit off, draping it over and clambering into bed, where his mother tucked him in and kissed him goodnight on his forehead, leaving the room and heading to her own bedroom. It took a while, but after a good two hours, but after watching his own white aura wave and ripple on the roof, he finally fell asleep.

--

"Danny, get up! Mr. Lancer's here already!" Jack Fenton's voice boomed through the house.

"WHAT?!" Danny yelled in surprise, going from completely unconscious to wide awake. He jumped out of bed and changed into a shirt and a pair of jeans as quickly as he possibly could, running down into the kitchen. Mr. Lancer was looking at the paper and sipping a coffee as Maddie handed Danny a plate with a slice of toast on it.

"I'll forgive your lateness today, Mr. Fenton, but please do try to be awake by the time I get here."

"Sorry Mr. Lancer." Danny said quickly as he attempted to brush his messy hair down with his spare hand and sitting at the table, taking a bite out of his buttered toast.

"…Another car bomb in Iraq… what a waste…" Danny heard Mr. Lancer mutter. Finishing his toast, Danny took his plate over to the bench, but halfway there one of his whole leg sank into the floor and he crashed down, smashing the plate in the process. That caught both Mr. Lancer and Maddie's attention, Mr. Lancer looking shocked, while Maddie rushing to clean it up. Danny quickly made his leg tangible, knowing that he wasn't fast enough, however. He noticed that he had a graze on his arm from it, however what leaked was far from blood, because blood is _red. _This was _green_, so… it must be ectoplasm. Mr. Lancer really couldn't stop himself from staring at that point, and Danny really didn't blame him. Danny quickly grabbed the first aid kit from the bench and wrapped it up before any more of it leaked. Mr. Lancer looked as though he was might faint, but drew his attention back to the paper with great difficulty.

Danny rubbed his arm as his mother cleaned up the broken plate, knowing that it wasn't his fault by any means.

"Are you ready Mr. Lancer?" Danny asked, watching him drain the rest of his coffee, nod, and stand up. Danny led the two of them back into the study, where they sat down and Danny pulled out the homework he did after Sam and Tucker had left.

"Here, I did it all." He said, handing it to his teacher, who looked at it, marking all of them right except for one.

"Now Danny, do you remember where you could have gone wrong here?"

"No sir, but-" Danny stopped as he breathed out some blue mist again. Mr. Lancer looked at him curiously, and a little worriedly, as Danny looked around frantically.

"Danny, would you mind explaining to me what that was…?"

"It was nothing." Danny said, still looking around. "Nothing at all…"

He began to shiver; whatever it was, it was getting closer. Mr. Lancer looked at him, concerned, as he put his hand over Danny's forehead, quickly taking it off as it was like ice.

It was back; an ectopus flew through the study floor, most likely coming from the now activated ghost portal downstairs. Danny, knowing what it (and it's friend, who was not present) tried last time, immediately grabbed one of it's tentacles, while Mr. Lancer yelled in shock, backing away and pressed his back to the door. Danny was pulled up into the air by the ghost, then slammed into the floor, only he phased though it to prevent injury. Just as the ectopus began to advance on Mr. Lancer, (who by the way was now so scared it didn't register in his brain to open the door and run) Danny flew back through the floor and punched it, sending it smashing through the window. But it hadn't had enough this time, it advanced back towards a petrified Mr. Lancer and a floating Danny. He knew what was coming next; the ink. Quickly, he turned intangible just as the ink came towards him. It went straight through him and right on to Mr. Lancer, in a sticky black mess.

"Uhh… _sorry._" Danny apologized, not taking his emerald glowing eyes off the beast. Diving at it, Danny grabbed one of it's eight tentacles and pulled it down through two floors to the basement. The Ghost Portal was open, so he quickly tossed it into the portal, and closing the doors behind it, breathing a big sigh of relief.

Mr. Lancer would have jumped, seeing Danny reappear through the floor had he not been encased in a thick, hardened layer of black ink. He looked quite worn out, staggering to the wall and leaning on it for support. He then approached Mr. Lancer, breathing heavily.

"… Sorry about that … Can you move …?"

"Mmmhmmhmmmmhm, hmmhmm hmm!" Lancer replied. This was enough of an answer to know he obviously could not.

"Wait here, I'll get mum and dad…" Danny said. "They'll get you out…"

There were a few things on Mr. Lancer's mind right now. That… that _thing_ had just come and attacked Danny and himself out of the blue, and Danny fought it. Not only did he do that, but he literally flew and was able to become intangible when need be. This was not only getting confusing, but it was _seriously _beginning to question his own beliefs.

_-End Chapter 14-_

**Author's Note:**

There you go, I lived up to my promise; I made it longer! Around 1660+ words! LONGEST CHAPTER EVER FOR ME! Okay, now I am tired, and I've got a school excursion tomorrow! And it's going to be great! (not one of those excursions where you write stuff down, I'm talking about an excursion where there's waterslides and miniature golf and go carts… You know, all the good stuff, and none of the pens on paper work we usually do)


	16. The School Dilemma

**Author's Note:**

Why I'm deciding to write this at 10:30 PM on a school night, I don't know. Thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are awesome! XD Oh and I got both an Honor and an Effort end of year award! My mum and nan flipped!

**Chapter 15: The School Dilemma**

Danny yelled to his parents, who came scurrying up to the study to find Mr. Lancer incased in a prison of hardened ink.

"What the _hell _happened here?!" Jack exclaimed, looking stunned at the immobilized teacher. Mr. Lancer probably wouldn't have told him even if he could speak properly through the ink that had blocked his mouth out and gave him just enough room to breathe.

"Another one of those ghost octopuses attacked us!" Danny said to his parents. "And Mr. Lancer got sprayed with this ink that hardened over him so he couldn't move."

"Not those stupid specters again!" Maddie groaned. "Here, I've dealt with the ink before Mr. Lancer, I'll get you out."

Danny sat down on the chair while Maddie and Jack rushed out of the room to grab some equipment. Glancing over at Mr. Lancer apologetically, he muttered "Sorry…"

Maddie and Jack eventually re-entered the room, holding a bottle of special spray and a large cloth. They got to work by spraying the ink, making it liquefy, then rubbing it off with the cloth. Finally, after what seemed like hours Mr. Lancer was freed from his black prison, leaving his clothes blackened and sticky.

"Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Fenton." He said gratefully, being able to move and talk again. "May I have a word with Danny for a moment?"

"Well, yes, okay, but don't you have to go back to school?" Maddie questioned curiously.

"I don't have any classes until after lunch." Mr. Lancer replied to her. "But don't worry, I won't keep you all that long."

Maddie nodded, leading Jack out of the room, closing the door behind herself. Mr. Lancer sat down in the chair beside Danny. He felt awkward talking to him on this kind of subject, but felt it best to do so.

"Danny, do you know what that _thing _that attacked us was exactly?"

"It… it was a ghost octopus _thing._ It would have come from the portal downstairs I'll bet…" Danny replied.

"Portal?" Mr. Lancer questioned, lifting an eyebrow. "What kind of portal?"

Danny sighed; he shouldn't have said that much… It was a bit late now though. "It's… a ghost portal. Mum and dad built it and when it started to work ghosts began to come out freely. I'm sure they didn't build it with that intention, but…"

"Alright…" Mr. Lancer said a little sceptically. "A ghost portal… that makes no sense; ghosts are just fictional characters out of Halloween stories and fairy tales, I believe."

Danny didn't reply, it was plain obvious what he was, but he didn't want to force it on the man. Mr. Lancer had seemed uncertain after meeting Danny the first time after the accident.

"Look, Danny, enough of that, you really do need to come back to school, do you think there will be any way for you to come to school and pass as your old self?"

"No…" Danny admitted. "Even if I tried to pass as someone different, I'd probably get found out sometime or another."

"I think its best you go to school. Apart from the fact that I'm just too busy to be home-schooling you all the time, it can be quite expensive for a tutor, when your parents can't teach you themselves because they're just too busy."

"But how am I supposed to go now? Like a ghost in the class isn't going to go unnoticed!"

"Danny, I'm sure you're not a ghost." Mr. Lancer said firmly. Danny, however, shook his head, his anger seemed to be taking over again. Why couldn't he control his emotions to the extent that he used to? They seemed to go a little further than they usually did.

"Yes I am! Why do you think I can phase through solid objects? Why do you think I can make myself turn invisible?! I've been like this ever since I had that accident in the stupid portal I've been like this! What else do you think I am? I know I'm certainly not human and I can't pass for one either!"

Mr. Lancer looked taken aback at his sudden outburst, Danny really knew that he would have to have better control.

"Sorry…" he muttered guiltily. "But I don't see how I can go back like this…"

"Danny, I know it will be hard, but you have to go. It might be hard at first, but if you pull through they'll accept you as the same person you always were."

"And why do I get the feeling that Dash won't see it that way…?" Danny groaned. Dash was sure to have a go at him now. It was inevitable that he'd be picked on when he was normal, but now it was even more inevitable if possible, now that he was like this. The ghost of a geek who haunted Casper High. Oh, now that would be a _great _title.

"Don't think of it that way." Mr. Lancer said. "Mr. Fenton, if you want a good life, you're going to have to come back."

"Really?" Danny said in fake surprise. "You call this life? Funny, I call it something else. Forget it, no one would hire a ghost as an employee, there's no point in coming back..."

"Yes they would, considering that your parents are trying to find a way to change you back. Danny, you have to come back to school! Otherwise you'll put your future in jeopardy! Not for me, not for your family, not for your friends, if anything, do it for yourself."

_-End Chapter 15-_

**Author's Note:**

Took me a while to finish that. Laptop's been overheating in the stupid Summer heat again. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review, 2 more reviews until review 100!


	17. Add a Dash of Problem

**Author's Note:**

Cool change will be coming tomorrow, I hope it helps with updating so my computer doesn't overheat again… Thanks to my reviewers, as well.

**Chapter 16: Add a Dash of Problem**

Danny awoke on Friday morning with fresh memories of the horrible voice again. However he ignored it, and began dreading what would happen when he got to school. Should he go as Danny Fenton or pretend he was someone completely different? The later seemed like a good idea, but it would get _really _messy if someone found out about him later, which unfortunately, was fairly likely.

Maddie had decided that despite the cons of being a ghost, Danny would need a proper education, especially after they managed to turn him back to normal. Danny, however, was doubtful that they would be able to. Ghosts were dead, right? So how are you meant to revive a dead person?

Danny decided to skip breakfast, not only did he not need to eat, he had no interest in doing so either. He went straight into the shower, fumbling with the tap. He just couldn't touch it, and it was getting on his nerves. He looked angrily at his two intangible hands and no matter how much he tried, they simply refused to become solid again. In the end, he managed to turn the taps on with his elbows only to find that his hands turned tangible again only after he did so, as if they were mocking him. The temperature of the water didn't seem to register, even though he could feel it. For all he knew it could be boiling hot or freezing cold. After showering, grudgingly, Danny decided to go with 'just be the same Danny Fenton' and put on a shirt and some jeans, as he usually would for school. He tried to drag a comb through his hair in an attempt to flatten what used to be his messy raven black hair, which, just as usual, refused to flatten. _Oh well._ Danny thought; his hair looked weird when it was flat anyway.

As Danny came downstairs his sister, Jazz was eating breakfast. She lifted her head up at the sight of Danny and looked at him sympathetically.

"I know it's going to be hard, but it's the best thing for you, Danny."

He didn't reply, only sadly nodding his head. After all his years living with Jazz, he had learned that it was just easier to agree with her rather than argue with her. Being the most rational, she always seemed to win the argument.

Danny grabbed his schoolbag that he packed and left on the table last night, then left, saying goodbye to his sister. Just as he was about to walk out he door his parents came up behind him.

"Danny, just remember, if it becomes too much, I give you every right to come right back home." Maddie said, ruffling his hair. Why did everyone do that?

"And when you get home we can test the-" Jack was cut off by a piercing glare from Maddie.

"We are _not_, I repeat, _not _performing tests on him, or testing anything out on him!"

Jack recoiled and quickly nodded his head, then both of them said goodbye to Danny. He walked to the bus stop, then sat down. He was very early, as there wasn't anyone even there yet; it was only half-past seven. Why did he leave so early? His nervousness must have somehow made him ignore the time.

Fifteen minutes later, he saw Sam coming from the distance. She looked shocked to see him.

"Danny, what are you doing here?!"

"I have to go to school now…" Danny said, sagging on the bus stop's seat. "Lancer insisted and mum thought it would be a good idea."

"Wow, that's tough…" Sam said, patting him on the back, only to have him become intangible again. It always happened at the worst of times.

The two waited for the bus together. Many other kids came and stared at him with a shocked expression on their faces. It made Danny even more nervous, so he moved a bit closer to Sam. As the bus came, there was no sign at all of Tucker the techno-geek. Everyone climbed on, and everyone seemed to get a seat before Danny could, so he was left as one of the few, with Sam, standing up rather than sitting down, allowing the other teens to get a better view of him. Most knew it was Danny, because of the hairstyle, facial structure and clothes, but they all couldn't believe how he looked. How could his hair have become white, his eyes become that _glowing _emerald green, and more mysteriously, how could he be glowing with a mysterious white aura? Danny knew it would get even worse when they finally hear his echoed voice, and it was inevitable that he'd have to use it sometime.

As the bus slowed to a stop, nobody got up, wanting to get another look at Danny's mysterious appearance. Yesterday Lancer had revealed that Danny had been involved in an accident in his parent's lab and he may be coming to school tomorrow, if he felt up to it. The thing he had conveniently left out was how the accident had changed him. It seemed to Danny that they'd already forgotten about the incident a few days ago while trying to prank Dash, that was rather… odd, but still pleasing. Eventually, Danny had to get off, because no one else would until he did.

Casper High came closer and closer as Danny walked, each step becoming one more step too far. Eventually he just stopped in front of it, Sam taking his hand and dragging him in. Finding the walking motion again, Danny continued to his locker and grabbed his things while Sam went to her locker, conveniently over the other side of the school.

As Danny closed the door to his locker he turned to see Dash and the rest of the jocks glaring at him.

"Hey, looks like Fen_turd _had a little accident in his parents lab and faked being sick enough to get four days off, well, we're going to have to punish that." Dash said, grinning horribly and smacking his hands together. Looks like he didn't care whatsoever about Danny's new appearance. Dash lifted him up by his collar causing Danny to drop his books, but then suddenly looked confused.

"He's so light! Like lifting up… nothing!"

Danny should have known this would happen, now he seemed to be practically weightless, which was probably why he could fly. Suddenly Danny accidentally turned intangible and fell through Dash's grip, leaving him and the other jocks completely stunned. Danny looked quickly at them, grabbed his books off the ground and bolted to first period English class.

Mr. Lancer was sitting at his desk reading To Kill a Mockingbird in the otherwise empty room when Danny entered and dumped his things at a table at the back, where he and his friends normally sat.

"You're early, Danny." Mr. Lancer remarked, looking at his watch. "A good ten minutes early! Moby Dick, you usually sleep in and come in late, what happened?"

Danny sat down at his table and looked up at his teacher. "It's nothing…"

Narrowing his eyes, Mr. Lancer could see something was wrong. "It's not nothing, Danny. You look as if you would leap out of your seat at any moment."

"I don't feel like talking!" Danny replied somewhat angrily when he heard footsteps outside the door. Quickly he became invisible just as Dash and the other jocks came in, seeing his disappearing act. They looked bewildered at the space where Danny Fenton once sat. However shocked they seemed to be, it didn't stop Dash from approaching the spot where he sat.

"Alright, Fen_toast_! Your not fooling anyone!" Dash took a grab at thin air, only to find that he wasn't there anymore. Danny had flown up into the air in an attempt to not let Dash grab him; he didn't trust his intangibility enough with something like that. And it seemed like he couldn't trust his invisibility with something like that either anymore, as it flickered and the group saw Danny floating at least a meter above the ground, distancing himself from the group. They stared in disbelief and Danny mentally cursed himself for not resorting to just move out of the way.

"Oh my God, Fenton's _flying_!" Kwan said, pointing at him. The little colour in Danny's face that was left drained; he looked as white as a sheet. He was speechless, Mr. Lancer was speechless, even the group of seven jocks were speechless, until, once again, Dash spoke up.

"Fenton's dead!"

Suddenly Danny retaliated. "Yeah well, so what if I am! At least you can't wail on me now!"

Dash's eyes narrowed, as he approached the still floating Danny. "Oh yeah? Well we'll see about that!"

Mr. Lancer new this would end badly. Yesterday he saw that Danny had had problems dealing with his anger, that seemed to come out of nowhere. He was also a lot stronger than he looked, when that octopus attacked the both of them. For Dash's physical state and for Danny's sanity, Mr. Lancer was worried. There was fireworks shooting off the two of them.

_-End Chapter 16-_

**Author's Note**

Unlike my other stories, I actually have a plan on where this is headed. And wow, I just wrote another 1500+ word chapter! XD Please review.

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	18. Bully Problems

**Author's Note:**

Oh no, the drummer next door is thudding away again… (Groan) I think I'm going insane! At least the weather has cooled down. Thanks again to my reviewers! I do this for everyone that reads:D

**Chapter 17: Bully Problems**

Dash advanced towards Danny, cracking his knuckles threateningly. Danny had to remind himself to keep a calm temper, otherwise he probably couldn't be held responsible for his own actions. Dash took a grab at his leg to pull him down, but Danny dodged him, placing his feet on the floor again, glaring.

"You're going down, Fenton, you hear me! Going! Down!" Dash yelled at him. Danny just continued to glare at him, reminding himself not to fight back, just to keep avoiding anything that Dash may attempt to do, as well as keeping calm. If he didn't keep calm… well, he didn't really want to think about it. Dash closed in on Danny, aiming his massive fists at him for another punch, only to have Danny become intangible.

"Gee, I thought the whole concept of punching was to hit your target." Danny mocked, finally starting to enjoy what was happening. Dash began to get angrier.

"You're a dead freak Fenton!" Dash yelled in a mental attack. "You probably committed suicide or something like that! Why don't you go back to the place you killed yourself and haunt it!"

"Say that again!" Danny spat venomously. Something about the look he was giving Dash had obviously scared the jock, as he backed away. Dash didn't know what it was, but Danny was quite literally radiating malevolence and anger. It was more than enough to want to turn tail.

The jocks backed away to the door of the classroom and then bolted out of the door, while Mr. Lancer stared at Danny with an almost frightened look. As his anger began to settle, he looked over at his teacher. His face was white and he was trembling slightly.

"What did I just do?" Danny asked, shocked.

Lancer looked at him with bewilderment, saying nothing. Danny shook his head and took to his usual seat. "Don't worry then…"

--

A few minutes later, students began to come into the room, sit down in their usual spots, then gawk at Danny. He found it unnerving, where was Sam? At least he'd be with one of his friends, but she was running late, it seemed. As Paulina Sanchez walked into the room, she seemed slightly more intrigued with him than the others, even sitting next to him where Tucker would normally sit. Danny let out a barely noticeable grin until she boldly extended her hand out towards him to see if she could feel the glow. Danny glanced at her with a faint smile, which she returned with awe added to it. They both turned away as Mr. Lancer (who was still slightly pale) began to talk, seeing that many were present in the classroom, in his monotone voice. Danny quickly glanced at the door wondering where on earth Sam was… Not that Danny was particularly concerned, but the seven jocks weren't there either.

"Now class, I would like you to give Mr. Fenton a _warm_ welcome back. I know his current state right now is slightly alarming, but I must urge you _not _to hassle him about it. He's been through more than enough this past week and I think he'd be thankful for just a normal day at school."

People murmured, casting glances over at Danny every other second. They were probably trying to figure out what kind of accident had caused this kind of thing to happen. Of course, none knew that his parents were mad ghost researchers, but they didn't need to know that either. Danny wasn't sure he wanted Mr. Lancer to tell them that, but nonetheless…

"Quiet." Mr. Lancer said, looking at them all from one to another. After the class became silent again, he continued. "Now, I have a task for each of you to do over the weekend. What I would like you to do is read the first three chapters of Lord of the Rings. I know that it is a more difficult book, however I thought that you all might appreciate it more than grammar worksheets. There will be a quiz on Monday about it, so please don't slack and toss it aside. I will now hand to you each a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. Do not lose it, as there will be – Miss. Manson!"

Sam, holding her hand over her eye, trudged into the room, looking as though she would come after whoever did that to her with a carving knife wielded in one hand and a knife-file in the other.

"Miss Manson, what in the world happened?!" Mr. Lancer said with serious concern for the Gothic friend of Danny. She sat down next to Danny, removing her hand from her eye, revealing a swollen, black eye, looking extremely bloodshot.

"Dash did it." she replied, hate dripping from every one of those three words. Mr. Lancer looked at her in shock.

"Mr. Fenton, take Miss. Manson to the nurse!"

Danny more than willingly obliged, giving a quick smile to Paulina on the way out the door whilst helping Sam.

"Dash came out of nowhere just as I'd finished getting my stuff from my locker!" Sam spat angrily on the way to the nurse's office. "Then he said, 'Your creepy little boyfriend better not do what he did again, or you're going to pay up for him twice as badly as now.' Since I wasn't expecting it, he caught me off-guard and smashed one of his gigantic, ugly, jock fists into my eye, then walked away with his friends laughing! Ugh! The left side of my vision is blurry now! One day he'll pay for this…"

Danny at her, his eyes full of remorse. "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused, Sam…"

Sam looked at him in bewilderment. "Who cares? Whatever you did to him, he had it coming and you know it. It's not your fault anyway. It was him that probably provoked you to do so."

Danny thanked Sam as they saw the sign that read NURSES OFFICE and entered through the door. The school nurse, Miss. Dipit, a kind lady sitting at her desk typing something on her computer, turned to face Danny and Sam. Her expression was that of horror when she saw Sam's eye, completely disregarding Danny's strange appearance. It was the ability to not ask questions unless necessary and get straight to it that was one of her good qualities.

"Look at your eye!" she gasped at Sam, rushing over to the young Goth, grabbing a small torch that was used to look at people's eyes. Sam winced at the sudden light, and was thankful when Miss. Dipit removed it.

"There's something in there…" Miss. Dipit said, concerned. "It looks like a piece of metal, lodged right in the violet part of it. This looks bad, that is the most important part, how well can you see with that eye?"

Sam gritted her teeth, something was in there…? "It's blurry Miss…"

"This isn't good…" Miss Dipit concluded, Danny and Sam looking worried. Dash must have shoved that in while we was in the process of punching her.

_-End Chapter 17-_

**Author's Note:**

Ooh, what's going to happen with Sam's eye…? I know! I know exactly what happens mainly because I've had a rather large chunk of metal wedged into my eye where it rusted before. Trust me, it hurts. Anyway I thought that was the best place to end the chapter, so there's chapter 17 for you!

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	19. What Happened to the Goth Geek?

**Author's Note:**

BEFORE YOU KILL ME FOR BEING SO INCREDIBLY LATE, I have one thing to say. Virus. Oh, and thank God for Acer Factory Default Recovery. That's the second time it's saved my computer. I'd like to thank everyone who reads and sincerely apoligize for making you wait so long.

**Chapter 18: What happened to the Goth geek?**

"I'll be a while." Miss. Dipit said as she headed for the door, giving Sam an ice pack from the mini-freezer. "Hang tight and keep that on your eye." 

Sam watched and waited for Miss. Dipit to go away completely and then gave Danny a hopeful look. He knew what she wanted, so he returned it with a vigerous shake of his head.

"No way. What if I end up damaging your eye?"

Sam continued to look at him, almost pleadingly. "Please? You know what my parents are like! Not that I really like the light of day, but I'm not going to see it for at the very least a week, and I can't be bothered with some stupid law suit with Dash, even if it is me suing him!"

Danny still shook his head stubbornly to her dismay. "I'm sorry Sam, but I'm not going to phase my hand into your eye and pull out that metal. It doesn't take Jazz to know that it's a _very _bad idea."

Sighing, Sam slapped the ice pack back onto her eye, a little too forcefully causing her to wince. Danny thought that it was perfectly reasonable that Sam didn't want her parents to find out, as she was an independant Gothic ultra-recyclo vegetarian, whilst they were uptight, snobby people who tried every spare moment of their time trying to force Sam into elaborately decorated frilly pink dresses. Spending a whole week in her own house would probably render Sam mentally unstable.

After twenty minutes of waiting, Miss. Dipit bustled back in.

"That Baxter kid's going to get it this time!" she said, eyes ablaze like neither Danny or Sam had ever seen them before. So much for kind nurse who helps everyone out. "Fancy having the nerve to deny the metal! He's got the school board to answer to now!" her outburst done, Miss. Dipit sat down again in her chair. Even though she seemed to ignore Danny's strange appeareance, he could have sworn that he caught her staring at him a few times as they waited for the next hour, the ambulance coming late.

"We're sorry, we came as quick as - what the hell?!"

Both paramedics stared at Danny, who mentally slapped himself for not 'getting out of the way'.

"It's the eye that's the problem, not _me!_"

"Y-yes, of course." the other paramedic said quickly, barely taking their eyes off Danny to treat Sam. Miss. Dipit yet again shifted her glance to Danny.

"Back to class now."

Danny stood up and walked to the door. "Good luck with your eye, Sam."

--

Danny was about to knock on his classroom door when his entire body became intangible. In a confused mess of floating and intangibility, the fiasco ended with Danny landing on his stomach halfway through the classroom door, before any of it came under control. Mr. Lancer, three-quarters of the way through the double period lecture, stared in shock along with the rest of the class as Danny pulled the other half of himself through the door and stood up.

"I didn't mean to, it was an accident, I swear!"

Shaking himself from his mindless stare, Mr. Lancer cleared his throat. "Yes... take your seat, Mr. Fenton."

Danny picked himself up from the floor and scurried to his seat, where Paullina slipped him a note.

_Hi Danny!_

_What happened to that Goth geek? How did you _

_go through the door like that? That was really _

_weird. Meet me at the bushy area at recess, I _

_want to talk to you._

_- Paullina_

Danny gave her a sideways glance and pocketed the note.

**Author's Note:**

I know it's a bit short, (okay, really short) but I can't think of a better place to end it, it flows better this way. What's in the next chapter may surprise you...

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	20. The Shallow, the Deep and the Biased

**Author's Note:**

Well, here it is. Chapter 19. Wow, I can't believe I wrote that much... And if by any chance a teacher comes by this, writing fanfiction has made me far better at grammer and spelling than any English homework sheet or spelling test.

**Chapter 19: The Shallow, the Deep and the Biased**

"Here's your copy of _The Fellowship of the Ring,_ Danny." said Mr. Lancer, after everyone else had left the room for recess. "And _always_remember, if people give you trouble, be it students or teachers alike, you can always come to me."

Danny nodded and began to head out the door, but when he tried to stuff his book into his pack, his hands unwillingly turned intangible again, making him drop the book. It seemed that they just didn't want to touch anything anymore. Mr. Lancer looked at him with curiosity.

"I can understand that you try, but you're going to have to try to keep that under control."

"Tell me about it..." Danny replied as he scooped up the book with his other hand and put it into his bag. With a slight amount of excitement, Danny walked out the door and towards the spot Paullina had told him to meet her. Desperately trying to ignore the glances and stares, and the even more annoying 'look at him, and when he sees you look away before he notices'.

The spot where Paullina had told him to meet her was a fairly sucluded place. It was a small ring of bushes, barely enough room for two people, but still possible. Barely anyone even knew about it. Danny only by chance after he was hiding from Dash's gang. He pushed his way through to find Paullina sitting, waiting for him. The expected heartbeat didn't quicken or thump harder. It was then he realized that his heartbeat simply wasn't there... Ignoring the very disturbing fact that he didn't have a beating heart, Danny remained calm.

"Hi Danny!" she said brightly as he sat down next to her.

"Hi!" Danny replied back. He couldn't believe it - Paullina, _Paullina _was actually talking to him.With _words._

"Listen, I sorta want to appoligize for ignoring you the past half year." she said in her Spanish accent. "Because you are kind of cute, I just never noticed before."

_Before you got yourself killed!_ Danny's mind reminded him harshly. Paullina looked slightly puzzled as he stared into space for a moment, thinking.

"Danny, are you okay?"

"What?" he said, as the voice snapped him out of his temporary daze. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing."

"Go on!"

"No!"

"Please, I'm good with secrets!"

"It was just a thought!" Danny protested.

"Alright, sheesh! Oh, hey, it's the guys on the football team!"

"Paullina, no! They hate me!" Danny said quietly and urgently as Paullina stuck her head above the surrounding greenery and yelled out to them. Kwan and the rest (minus Dash) of the jocks walked up to the no-longer-secluded-spot.

"You're with _Fenton!?_" Kwan said in surprise. "Paullina, he might be cute, but he's a geek AND a ghost! You couldn't do worse!"

"Wow, slow down!" Paullina said in shock. "He's a _what?_"

"A geek." Kwan answered stupidly.

"No, no, no! The second one!"

"He said that I'm a ghost." Danny confirmed before Kwan could say it. He much rathered that she hear it from him rather than that numb-skull.

"You... you are?" Paullina said fearfully, her face contorted with confusion as well. "Go away! I don't want to know what happened! And I'm not going to lure you to tell me, either!" with that, she backed away from Danny to Kwan and the other Jocks.

"Wait a minute, you were going to use me?!"

Paullina said nothing as she backed away from him, the jocks comforting her and grinning maliciously at Danny. He watched in confusion and sadness as she deserted him.

Sam was right, that girl really was shallow.

**--**

At period three and four science, Danny was already in a bad mood before it had even begun. Mr. Rihan was, as always, only going to provoke the mood so it became even worse than what it already was.

"Hurry up and sit down, Fenton, or you can have a detention!"

Danny, who had already pulled the chair out to sit on it, scowled. He used to be mean to him, sure, but this was ridiculous. Danny sat at the workbench and waited. All the jocks (again, minus Dash) came in with Paullina and sat as far away from Danny as physically possible. There were others who entered, however, that tried to sit very close to him. A girl called Kiera even offered to be his partner, which he gratefully accepted.

As they waited for the straglers, the pair talked. It seemed to Danny that Kiera had partnered with up with him not for the sake of finding out what happened, but because she thought he must be very hard for him without Sam and Tucker around to offer support when needed.

"SILENCE!" Mr. Rihan's voice boomed. Everyone flinched and faced him immediately. "Today we are burning Sulfur. Can anyone tell me what it is?"

Danny knew this, and put up his hand. Compared to must other subjects except art, he was surprisingly good at science. Rihan looked around the room carefully before picking Danny, to be absolutely sure that no one else could answer.

"Yes, Mr. Fenton?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Sulfur is an element that comes out of a volcano when it erupts."

"Considering you're so smart, Mr. Fenton, could you tell me what happens when you inhale it?"

Danny thought for a moment. "It forms a cement when mixed with saliva that hardens more every time you breathe. You'd end up choking to death."

"Correct, and because I'm sure no one wants to end up in Fenton's position, don't go sticking your nose in it!"

Danny growled very quietly at this. Kiera was slightly confused, as with most of the rest of the class. What Mr. Rihan had said basically screamed that Danny Fenton was dead. But Danny Fenton was sitting right there in front of them, his face contorted in rage. Did this mean he was some kind of ghost or spirit? His voice did echo, and he was _glowing._ People began to whisper to their friends. Danny went a rather unhealthy shade of white before accidentally becoming invisible, gasping, and returning to normal again.

"I'll have none of your tricks, Fenton!" Rihan said harshly. "Detention. Lunchtime. Today."

"But it was an accident! I can't control it at all!" he retorted angrily. "Besides, it's not hurting anyone, is it?"

"No tricks!" Mr. Rihan roared back.

"Stop dumping on him!" Kiera suddenly yelled. "Just because he's different doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings! I don't know what you're thinking, but I don't think that he would actually choose to be this way!"

"Detention. Lunchtime. Today, Miss. Winter. I won't have your cheek."

Kiera gritted her teeth at the injustice.

"Now that that's over, each pair set up a Bunson burner, then come to me to collect a pair of glasses for each of you, then collect one crucible of powdered Sulfur. Don't do anything else for the moment."

Danny pulled out the Bunson burner and began setting it up as Kiera headed over to and grabbed the other items they needed. When he had finished setting up the Bunsen burner, Danny reached for the plastic science glasses and put them on, only to have them phase off his now intangible nose. Kiera made a dive-grab and caught them just before they hit the floor.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that."

"Don't appoligize for something that wasn't your fault.' Kiera said as she handed him back the glasses.

"Now, put the crucible on the stand and light the burner. Keep it on the red flame and record what you observe. If the Sulfur turns red, cut the gas off immediately."

Everyone got started. The burning Sulfur smelt horrible; many resorted to pulling their jumpers and shirts over their faces. Danny began to hold his breath as his Sulfur began to liquify. He found quickly that he didn't actually need to draw a breath again at all, which made him pleased, confused and somewhat uneasy all at the same time.

The Sulfur in his crucible hardened and started to glow a vivid red in places. Quickly, he made a movement to turn the gas off only to have both of his hands become intangible.

"No, anytime but now!" he pleaded. Kiera noticed what was happening and turned the gas off just a moment too late. The crucible smashed from overheating, scattering hot pieces of whatever the crucible was made of and bits of hot Sulfur everywhere.

"STOP!" Rihan bellowed. Everyone in the room flinched and jerked around to face the fuming teacher. "Winter, Fenton, detention lunchtime Monday! Pack up and sit down! Everyone else, ten minutes to go before the next experiment!"

The pair groaned and packed up their things, not talking to each other with the knowledge that Rihan was watching them like a hawk.

--

"Class dismissed!"

Not being allowed to do any experiments for the entire double session had rendered Danny and Kiera exceedingly board, so they let out a collective sigh of relief at these words.

"Fenton, Winter, off to detention!"

The pair groaned.

_-End Chapter 20-_

**Author's Note:**

Wow, that one's a long chapter! Consider it make-up for the lost 700 - chapter.

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	21. Detention

**Author's Note:**

Yup, Paullina really is a shallow witch. By the way, in this story, Danny will probably go through a few girlfriends, just like he did in the show. And Valerie will show her face soon. Thanks to all of my reviewers, seriously, you guys are awesome, each and every one of you! ( :

**Chapter 20: Detention**

Along the way to detention, Danny and Kiera stopped off at each of their lockers. When Danny immerged from his not with a lunchbox, but a pencil and a sketchbook, she eyed him curiously.

"I'm just not hungry, that's all" Danny said, untruthfully answering her unspoken question. Being the slightly gullible person she was, Kiera didn't think twice about it.

"You know that in Rihan's class, you shouldn't have done that, it _was_ a little impulsive."

"Well I'm sorry that I don't just like to stand there and watch people get dumped on. Especially my best friends' little brother."

"Wait, what? Jazz??" Danny asked in surprise at her remark. "But she's two years older than you!"

"Yeah, well, she showed me around when I came to this place a couple of months back. And... it just happened from there. We sorta completely forgot about the age difference after a while."

_That'd be easy to do. _Danny thought as he looked at her figure. She was at least another five cetimeters taller than he was.

"We better get to detention or they might use that as an excuse to give us another on Tuesday."

Danny nodded in agreement. "You're right. Rihan would have our heads on the executioner's block if he found us here." Danny put on an exceedingly angry face. "Detention! Lunchtimes, afterschool and weekends! Rest of your life!"

Both smirking, they headed further down the hall towards the detention room. Just outside the door, Kiera sighed. "Y'know, this is the first detention I've ever had. They don't send a note home to your parents, do they? Mine are... well, they expect perfection. They barely understand why I can't bring home straight A's, but detention would really make them flip out. Heh, they think that I rig the score when I bring home B's."

"Nah, they don't. Which is good for me with Rihan around. He hated me before this disaster happened and now it's only getting worse."

"Y'know if you give me ten bucks, I'll willingly punch him in the face. I'm blue belt in karate and I might be able to break his nose if you pitch in an extra fifteen on top."

Smirking at the delightful thought of Rihan with a broken nose, Danny disagreed. "How have you not gotten a detention earlier?"

"No one ever finds me out. That's why I won't say the different things I did with those idiot jocks. If I do, my head'll be on the executioner's block _yesterday. _Well... they deserved every last bit of it. Especially that Dash kid, man he's a total moron. Thicker than tar. Not to mention a brute."

Danny opened the detention room door. There were eleven others there, including the teacher whom had her head buried deep into a book. She didn't even acknowledge their arrival.

"And... we make thirteen." Kiera said as she finished counting everyone. "Great, an unlucky number."

Danny rolled his emerald glowing eyes and took a seat down the back, while Kiera followed and sat down next to him, breaking off a piece of chocolate from her chocolate bar. Finding himself staring at the chocolate and zoning out from everything around him, Danny quickly turned his head away. Luckily, no one that was staring at him had noticed. They were all too busy looking at his startling appearance.

Danny placed his sketchbook on the table and opened it to one of the last blank pages. Making a mental note to get another, Danny got his pencil out and began to draw random things like a vase in the corner of the room, a birds nest with a few hatchlings in a tree outside and the fishtank with it's incredibly exotic fish. At least they didn't care about Danny's bizarre appearance. Or maybe they did, you couldn't tell with fish. Drawing was the only thing that kept his mind clean of the knowledge that he was being constantly watched like an animal in a zoo, only with much greater interest and puzzlement to go with it.

Suddenly, just before Danny was going to take a risk and draw Kiera, with her long, pitch black hair and dark green almond-shaped eyes there was a knock on the door. Danny lifted his head to see who it was.

"Mrs. Campbell, may I come in?" came the forever dry voice of Mr. Lancer.

"Sure, hon." she replied in her country accented voice, not lifting her head from her book even for a split second. Mr. Lancer opened the door and walked in, facing Mrs. Campbell.

"You don't mind that Kiera Winter and Danny Fenton will be spending their detention with me?"

"Nope, go ahead, hon."

Danny and Kiera looked at each other in surprise, then picked up their stuff and headed over to where Mr.Lancer was standing, saying not a word. He led them out of the detention room and into his office, (Danny dropping his pencil and sketchbook along the way) beckoning them to sit down on two flimsy plastic chairs the school provided in front of his desk. He then filled two plastic cups up with water and handed them to Danny and Kiera. They put their stuff on the floor to take them. Kiera took a sip, Danny, however just swirled it in his hand and then put it down before he dropped it.

"I understand that each of you recieved a detention for lunchtime today and lunchtime Monday from Mr. Rihan. My sources tell me he wasn't being fair on either of you, so could I please hear what happened?"

Kiera didn't hesitate to start talking. Her hate for that teacher obviously ran deep inside her veins. "Rihan,"

"_Mr. _Rihan." Lancer corrected. Kiera continued.

"_Mr. _Rihan was dumping on Danny. He started mocking him, like he said don't inhale the Sulfur if you don't want to end up like Fenton. Danny went really pale and then dissappeared for a second, then he just gave him a detention just like that! So I argued, and he gave me a detention for 'cheek'. Then... when we were doing the experiment, something happened. Danny was trying to turn off the gas, but he couldn't. By the time I got there, the crucible smashed. He blew his top and gave us both another detention on Monday _and _made us sit out for the rest of the experiments. It was completely unfair, I think today he's biased towards Danny."

"He's always been biased towards me." Danny corrected. "Just more so today."

"I see. Being vice principal, I do have some authority over these things, and neither of you will have a detention on Monday. You are also free to go. I'm sure Miss. Fenton will be wondering where you are, Kiera."

"C'mon, Danny. You can come with Jazz and me. She was worried about you all recess. However, when she said you were different... heck, I didn't expect this."

"Thanks." Danny said gratefully, both to Kiera and Mr. Lancer. No one else might, but at least those two and Jazz would offer sympathy rather than the forever staring eyes.

_You can't trust just anyone..._

Danny looked shocked at the echoed voice he had just heard. Looking around urgently, but he couldn't see anything. In a wisp of blue vapor, he realized it must be a ghost. _Tell me no! _Danny thought to himself, most probably being unwise when he chose to ignore it. No one else, not Kiera, not Lancer, had heard...

But... what did it mean?

_-End Chapter 20-_

**Author's Note:**

So... hot... I really wish I lived in England at the moment, where it's so cold. And yet if I did, I'd probably want the opposite. Bah, I'm babbling, hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review.

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	22. The Constant Staring

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Welcome to the 21st chapter! Thanks to everyone who's read this far and/or reviewed. And let me lay this down, it is NOT DxOC, just before anyone gets that idea. And it will NOT revolve around OC. I just needed to fill in the blanks left that were Jazz's friends. Onto the chapter!

Kris: Hold up! Just a little tiny reminder that Danny had the accident on Monday night and the day right here is Friday.

**Chapter 21: The Constant Staring**

Danny followed Kiera. Probably to the library, Jazz was always there being the bookworm she was. Mostly with psychology. She was proud to be the only one in the family not even _mildly _interested in ghosts. Even he himself had taken a slight interest in his parent's work, where she had not. Jazz did not just dislike it, she was absolutely _repulsed _by it. However, through that hatred, she still cared deeply about Danny. Nothing would change that, and after that accident, it had done nothing but deepened.

Right now, the library seemed like a good place. Barely anyone ever went there during recess and lunch, which was good; the last place he wanted to be was around people.

The library was deserted. There was no one there, at all. Danny couldn't believe his luck, usually there was someone there, (apart from Jazz and the librarian, who were both talking to each other at the moment. They were always there)

"Jazz, c'mon, tell me you haven't been here all lunch instead of wondering where I was! I brought Danny with me, too. Apparently something went wrong with Sam's eye, so she had to go and Tucker was just plain absent." Kiera said as she approached the desk.

Jazz mumbled a "Tell you later." to the librarian who promptly walked out of the room and into her office. Jazz then turned around. "Where's Danny? Didn't you just say you had him with you?"

"Danny?" Kiera asked after realizing he wasn't at her side any longer. "Danny, where are you?"

"I'm here." came Danny's echoed dissembodied voice. "I'm standing right between you! And I can't control it either!" Gasping, Jazz felt around the air in front of her until she found her brother. She hadn't actually touched him after the accident until now, but he felt exceedingly cold. Like ice, even. Suddenly Danny melted back into vision, and Danny looked at his completely visible hands and sighed with relief, then exclaimed "I hate it when these stupid ghost powers go haywire!"

"Normally I wouldn't propose this, but... considering your state and your friends aren't here... I think you should hang with us. We stay in the library, so there will barely be anyone in here to bother us. I doubt anyone will even come in except Mrs. Yarna."

Later that lunchtime...

-----------------------

"_What_ did you say earlier on about this place being deserted?!" Danny said as he watched the crowd around them grow slightly bigger than it already was, all trying to get a glimps of Danny Fenton. This was worse than the school bus, mainly because everyone who drove themselves or had their parents drive them was here this time. They hadn't even been able to begin talking; Mikey had come in, who told his friends to come in, who'd told their friends to come in, who'd told everyone else to come in! Danny couldn't believe he was actually glad when the warning bell went. Everyone, very slowly, of course, began to pour out of the library and finally there was only to small groups of friends left.

"Shoo!" Jazz said angrily. "He should be treated equal to everyone else! What gives _you _the right to gawk at him?!"

Disappointed, the rest shuffled out. Suddenly the full bell went, and the three left; Danny, Jazz and Kiera flinched. Running as fast as they could, they separated to get to their lockers. Danny then took off down the hall to get to Mr. Falluca's class. Glad that the short teacher didn't really care about people who were late unless it came to over five minutes, Danny pulled the door open.

"I see you've decided to join us, Mr. Fenton. Please sit down, quickly so we can get on with the lesson."

Danny took the only seat left. It was right next to Valerie Gray, one of the popular girls who had no time for geeks, just like everyone else popular who didn't take to bullying. Star was sitting next to her looking at Danny uncertainly. Valerie didn't even look at him, or if she was, at least she was fighting the urge to. Well, at least some people were reasonable, even if it was one of the popular jerks.

"Now, I hope you were all listening when I was teaching you algebra for the last week. You have until the end of this period to finish this test. No calculators and, no Miss. Shiran, no brightly coloured flourescent gel pens! It was hard enough _last _week when you used yellow. You may start as soon as it is handed to you." with that, Mr. Falluca handed out the algebra test to everyone. Silently glad that Mr. Lancer had given him some tutoring in the subject of algebra, Danny pulled a pen from his pencilcase, not caring you weren't really supposed to use them in maths, and began to work through the test.

The test made his head hurt, and nearly every time he was close to finding the answer, he'd drop his pen and end up forgetting what it was. Fighting a battle just to keep his hand tangible, Danny didn't completely finish his test as the bell went. As he handed it to Mr. Falluca, he gave him a small understanding smile. "It's okay, you weren't here for most of last week. That result is completely understandable."

"Yeah, thanks. At least - aah!" Danny yelled in surprise as he began sinking into the floor. "Pull me up!"

Mr. Falluca wasted no time. Imediately he grabbed his student's hand and pulled him back up, however seemed fairly surprised at how light his student was. Danny sighed in relief as his legs became tangible again. Everyone still in the class looked at him, eyes widened in confusion and shock. What on earth was going on with Danny Fenton? That's what everyone wanted to know. Sure, he did have some kind of horrific accident in his parent's basement lab, but this... this was just plain weird. Danny made sure he had all of his stuff and ran out. Glad that there was only one period left, he was unsure on how much more of this he could take. It was... just so hard. Danny'd never wanted to blend in more than he did now.

Last period was gym. It was one of the things that Danny was really not wanting to do, but had to anyway. He was sure that some quirk would happen, one way or another. Trying his best not to think about what was going to happen, Danny pulled out his gym clothes and began walking to the other side of the school. He hated Mrs. Tetslaff, she was not only nearly always saying that kids eat too much and don't exercise enough, but while doing so, ironically, chewing on a one meter long sub with the lot and swimming in vinigar. Danny managed to change without incident and then headed back into the gym, where Mrs. Tetslaff began to bark out orders.

"Line up! I want you to all climb the rope to halfway! Now!"

Nearly everyone groaned, including Danny; there were only very few people who actually enjoyed climbing the rope. Or gym at all. They all lined up together, one after another. Danny was about in the middle of the line right after Paullina and Star, they were talking angrily about how thy might break some nails. _Breaking nails is a heck of a lot better than what I went through... _Danny thought to himself, while watching the first person struggle halfway up the rope, then losing his grip and giving himself rope burn all the way down. That had to hurt.

Eventually, it was Paullina's turn. She could barely climb onto the knot at the bottom, let alone pull herself up from it.

"Next, Fenton!" Mrs. Tetslaff barked in her usual manner. Danny approached the rope and climbed upwards, finding it all of a sudden extremely easy to do so. Normally he could only make it up a quarter of the way, but this time it was a completely different story. He made it all the way with absolutely no resistence, almost surprising himself. When he climbed down Mrs. Tetslaff gave him an extremely odd look as he went to sit down with everyone who'd already climbed. Most were trying not to stare, and it was getting extremely annoying as he watched another boy struggle up the rope.

Next up was dodgeball. Danny had always liked this game, considering he wasn't bad at dodging. The only problem was that his hands seemed to have a few 'objections' with picking the balls up, so he'd have to throw them pretty much the second he got them, causing his aim to go skewiff.

Finally, at the end of the day, Danny ran to Jazz's car before she started to drive home. "Jazz! Can you please take me to see Sam at the hospital?"

"Sure, okay little brother. But I can't pick you up, can you walk all that way home?"

"Yeah, I can." Danny replied. "I just wanna see how Sam is as fast as possible."

"Good." Jazz said whilst opening the passenger-side door to her car. "Hop in."

_-End Chapter 21-_

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Yes, it's a little short, but I think it'll be good to end it here. Next chapter we find out what's going on with Sam! Oh, and sorry for the lateness, I was busy updating other stuff.

Kris: You shouldn't make a habit of those two things, you know.

Moonlight: Of course I know! But it's hard when you're juggling all these stories. Darn plot bunnies. If I don't write them, I don't sleep _on top _of my insomniac status!

Kris: Ehehe...

Moonlight: You're my muse! It's your fault!

Peace.

MoonlightUmbreon


	23. It's Just One Thing After Another!

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Now we get to find out what's happening with Sam!

Kris: Yup. We've kept you wondering for long enough!

Moonlight: I agree. Wait a minute, I AGREE??? But you're an evil muse! (faints)

Kris: (pokes Moonlight with a stick)

**Chapter 22: It's Just One Thing After Another!**

Jazz pulled up outside the hospital. "Go see if she's okay. I'll see you when you get home, and I've got your bag so you don't have to carry it back."

"Thanks." Danny said gratefully as he watched his sister drive off. He looked up at the hospital and realized how large it was, there had to be five stories and ten rooms wide. How he'd never noticed was anyone's guess. His only hesitation to go inside was the nurses and doctors would most probably bother him, and he wasn't going to become invisible and intangible to start sifting through the rooms. Apart from his powers being completely unsteady, there was also the fact that if he accidentally went into an operating theater he would probably end up contaminating it.

Danny gingerly walked up to the automatic doors. They didn't respond at all. "Oh, _please_ don't make me do this!" Danny shouted into the sky. He tried waving his hand in front of the reciever, however, just as he expected, it did nothing. "Whoever decided that I should have this little quirk can jump in the lake. I can't believe I have to do this..." Danny said bitterly to himself. He became intangible and phased through the door, praying that no one had seen it. He already looked like a freak, he didn't want to be caught acting like one too. For about the first good luck in the entire day, no one was even in the waiting room. Danny approached the desk and rang the little bell that called the receptionist.

"Yes, coming! Just hold on a tick!" came a call from inside the office. A minute later a nurse emerged. She had long, curly brown hair, aqua eyes, and was dressed in a white nurses' uniform as standard. However, those aqua-coloured eyes were wide with surprise and confusion. She'd quite obviously never seen anything like Danny. Which, in a way, was somewhat understandable. Danny had never seen anything like himself before either.

"Can I please visit Samantha Manson?" Danny asked. Shaken from her daze-like state, the nurse typed in the name and got the results.

"Okay... are you family?" she asked politely. Danny shook his head.

"I'm her best friend, I was with her for most of the time after she had that metal slammed into her eye. I came to see how she is."

"I'm sorry, but only family members are allowed to visit her."

"Well," Danny said slyly, "have any of her family shown up?"

"...No..." the nurse replied with a frown.

"Please, I'm one of her best friends! I just want to see her... Imagine, she hasn't had any visiters yet... can you imagine how that would feel?"

"I... okay, fine. It's room 407. It's on the fourth floor, and... take a sticker so they know you're not a patient... If anyone asks, you're a cousin or something." the nurse said as she handed him the sticker, shivering when she felt how cold his hand was. Danny stuck it to the side of his pants and walked over to the lift.

"Thanks."

As the doors of the lift opened, Danny walked inside. He looked at the lift buttons and jabbed the fourth one. Or at least, tried to. "Oh crud! Just _work_!" After a few, slightly more violent jabs, it finally responded and the doors closed as the lift jerked upwards. It opened and a female voice responded before he stepped out.

"Fourth floor. Accident and Emergency."

Danny didn't like the sound of that. Nonetheless, he looked for room 407. It didn't take long, it was only a short walk down the passageway. He knocked on the door and heard Sam's voice say "Come in."

"Sam!" Danny said. "How are you?!"

"Sore, what else?" she said unhappily. Danny noticed she had a white patch covering the eye with the piece of metal inside. "I can't believe it, I've gotta have surgery... They say if they try and pull it out, they might only push it further in and blind me..."

Danny groaned with Sam. "When's the operation...?"

"Tonight... and... I'm sorta scared, Danny... I've never had an operation and there's a chance I could lose the sight in it and I know that it's so not Goth to feel like this, but I can't help it..."

"You'll be fine." Dany comforted. "And the next time I see Dash, I'm going to _kill _him for this! But... I don't understand, I thought that those idiots thought hurting girls to be weak."

"Yeah, all girls but me. On their list, I'm dangerous, and therefore am only a 'last resort'. Remember what happened around a month ago?"

"Oh." Danny said as he remembered the day when Dash had shoved him in his locker and Sam had quite literally given Dash a face-kick, quite effectively knocking him out. She'd gotten a week of detentions for it, but she'd said that it was _so _worth it. "That day."

"Yep. I still think it was worth it, but... It's just that-"

The door opened to reveal a tall dotor with short, black hair and a stethoscope hanging around his neck. "Miss. Samantha Manson, correct?"

"It's _Sam._" Sam hissed. "Don't _ever _call me Samantha!"

"Sure... Well, _Sam, _we've managed to contact your parents. They've agreed to let you have surgery. We're ready right now if you are. It would be better if we started sooner than later, so the condition of your eye won't deteriorate too badly, okay?"

"Oh... okay. Let's get it done..." Sam replied unenthusiastically. The Doctor got her to climb on a stretcher with wheels. Sam looked around, but couldn't see Danny anywhere. However, as she was being wheeled out she heard him whisper something into her ear.

"Good luck... I'll see how you are tomorrow."

"What was that?" the doctor said, turning around. "Did you just speak?"

"No." Sam replied truthfully as she was wheeled into the operating theater. Danny sighed as he became visible again whilst looking at the bed where Sam once lay. He'd better check on Tucker now, he hadn't been to school that day and Danny wondered what was wrong. He earned many odd looks from patients, doctors and nurses all the way down to the bottom floor, and it was really beginning eat at him. This time someone else was coming through the automatic doors at the same time, saving him the trouble of phasing through them.

Danny watched some homing pidgeons fly overhead through the air above. _Lucky things... At least they don't have to worry about all the things that I have to worry about... _The pidgeons continued on and flew off into the horizon. Danny kept walking to Tucker's house. It was only one block away from FentonWorks.

Danny knocked on the door, Tucker's mother answering it. "_Danny_?!" she yelled in shock. "Oh my God, Danny! What on earth happened to you?!"

"It's nothing!" Danny said in a desparate and unsuccessful attempt to calm her down. "Just an accident! It can totally be fixed!"

"Have you told your parents that this happened?!" Mrs. Foley asked in hysterics. "Do they know anything yet?!"

"Yes, it happened in their basement, they know exactly what happened! Please, I just want to see if Tucker's okay! I swear... I'm fine. The only thing is that I look different." Danny said desperately. "And... sound different, too." he added as he realized that his voice, although he was half-used to it now, it would have been enough to freak anyone out.

"I... I don't believe it... It's... "

"Nothing." Danny replied. "I'm the same Danny as I always was. I'm not hurt, I just look different. Now, _please, _can I see Tucker?"

"Oh... I don't think so... he's got the flu... his throat's so sore that he refuses to talk, really, he's not in a good way..."

"Oh..." Danny said, extremely dissapointed. "Then, can you please pass a message to him?"

"I - I think I can, yes..."

"Sam was at school today, when Dash slammed a chunk of metal in her eye. She's... in hospital, they have to perform surgery to take it out. She could end up going blind in that eye. We don't know... Please, I'd rather Tucker hear it from me."

"Um... okay. But don't get too close! You might end up catching whatever bug he's got." Danny seriously doubted whether or not ghosts caught colds or things like that, but he wasn't going to say that out loud.

"Thanks." Danny said, sighing in relief that he didn't have to do anymore explaining. He climbed up the stairs and into Tucker's bedroom. He was in bed, and he _really _looked sick. The only thing he did to acknowlege Danny's presence was look at him.

"You're mum... She said you were really sick and your throat is really sore, so just nod when I ask you something, kay?" Tucker nodded in reply. "Today, in school, I was getting pushed around by Dash... and then I got _really _angry and I couldn't control it. Something I did unknowingly made him run. Then Dash took out his anger on someone else - he attacked Sam... He shoved a chunk of metal into her eye. It's in the iris, and that's meant to be the most dangerous place you can have it. She's in surgery now, and they don't know whether or not that eye will be able to see again." Tucker's eyes were wide in shock and outrage.

"I'll kill him..." he managed to croak out in a very husky voice. However he said no more, as it seemed like just those words had caused quite a lot of pain in his throat.

"That's what I said." Danny replied. "I'll go to the hospital first thing tomorrow morning and see how she is. Then I'll come here and tell you. I'm worried about her. She was _scared, _Tuck. Sam _never _get's scared." Tucker nodded. "I'll go, you'd need rest; you don't look well."

"Bye Danny..." Tucker croaked.

"Bye Tuck." Danny replied as his foot sank into the floor, causing him to fall flat on his face. Tucker cracked a small smile for what would probably be the first time all day as Danny laughed bitterly, picking himself up to his feet, then walking out and shutting the door as quietly as possible. He climbed down the stairs, where Mrs. Foley was waiting.

"Take care, and do be careful."

"I will." Danny replied. "Bye."

He walked out of the door and back home. Sighing thankfully as he saw the big, glowing FentonWorks sign, he opened the door and slumped down on the couch, still quite worried about Sam. Jazz noticed his entry, and immediately came up to him. "You need someone to talk things out with. C'mon little brother, you're going through a lot. It'd be a good idea, maybe you'll feel lots better afterwards?"

_Oh great. I'm going to be one of Jazz's subjects. Man, I hope I don't turn out like Spike, she's already been working him over for a month already!_

_-End Chapter 22-_

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: I was thinking about posting this tomorrow considering it's midnight and all, but a late night's never stopped me before. I might as well do something useful with my chronic insomnia. I can guarantee that I'll lie in bed until at least 3am from now before I actually sleep.

Kris: Hey, you're not out anymore!

Moonlight: You keep pulling tricks like this and you'll be th one out!

Kris: Help, help! She's a mass murderer! Someone call the police!

Moonlight: Gee, some muse you are! Go back to bed!

Kris. Yes Moonlight...

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	24. The Only Place You're Safe is Your Head

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: 3 chapters of this in a row! I shouldn't neglect my other stories like this, especially when I left everyone hanging like that on TOTL... (guilty look)

Kris: Exactly. So you should be guilty!

Moonlight: (blushes deep shade of crimson) be quiet! Oh, and the last chapter was THE LONGEST CHAPTER I'VE EVER WRITTEN! 1991 words! Nine off 2000... wow...

**Chapter 23: The Only Place You're Safe is Your Head**

"Now, tell me what's wrong." Jazz asked kindly.

"Umm... let's see... how about my_life _for instance?" Danny said, not wanting the over-protective psychologist sister speech. "Jazz, I'm not in the mood for this!"

"Don't be stupid!" Jazz said, the kindness in her voice was slightly rough now. "Now tell me what's wrong before you get seriously depressed!"

"What's wrong is my life's gone down the _toilet! _Scratch that, technically it's not even a life anymore! Everyone just stares at me like I'm some kind of mythical animal in a cage, Sam's in hospital having surgery on her eye, and Tucker's home sick with the flu! Plus, I keep phasing through stuff by accident, becoming invisible in random places... Plus, there's a few people who completely shun me because of what I am! You can't possibly understand what this is like!"

"Woa, cool it!" Jazz said. "Let's tackle one thing at a time. What's the worst one?"

"That Sam might not see out of her left eye again..." Danny said after he thought for a moment. Jazz looked puzzled.

"Oh... sorry, I thought it would be something else. Well, that's good, you're not selfish. However you shouldn't worry, it's more than likely that she'll be fine. The doctor was probably preparing her for a worst-case scenario. You can visit her tomorrow and find out that everything will be fine."

"Yeah... I guess..." Danny said, seeing a little sense in what his sister had said. "But what about accidentally becoming invisible or intangible? I can't live like that! And my voice _and _appearance. It creeps people out and there's nothing I can do about it. I've been to school for one day and already I'm repulsed by the thought of going back!"

"I can't help you much with that." Jazz said. "However, you know that mum and dad are trying their best, right? And you know what happens with Fenton devises. They_always _work."

"Yeah, just not the way you'd expect them to." Danny finished. "The ecto-powered oven and the radioactive turkey for instance? That was what I _always_wanted; food that likes to eat you! And I know I don't have to remind you about the lightbulb incident."

Jazz sighed. "Danny, if you want help, you have to in a way, help yourself. Stop thinking of all the bad things and look at the plus sides. I -"

Jazz stopped abruptly as Danny began to sink through the couch. He eyed her, annoyed, as he pulled himself up into a sitting position again. "Funny, I call _that _a downside."

"Fine then, but _I _can't help you if you refuse to be helped, Danny! I'm sorry." Jazz walked away, nose in the air in disgust. He sighed and decided to go down into the lab.

"Hey, mum, dad! I'm home! How're you doing with that thing that's going to make me normal again?" Danny yelled. His voice reverberated around the basement, making it ocho even more than beforehand. Maddie poked her head up.

"Oh! Hi sweetie. Look, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's not going well... But, if we can just run _one _test on you, we might be able work out what we need t know to progress. What do you say?"

"I... but... okay then..." Danny replied. "It's not painful at all, is it?"

"Oh God no!" Maddie said, laughing at the remark. "It's just a scan, nothing too bad. It won't even take a minute, come on."

"Right." Danny replied, walking down the stairs with his mother. He noticed a table with wrist and ankle restrains. They had a faint green glow, it made Danny wince. "You're _sure _it isn't painful, _right?_"

"Yeah, we're sure." Maddie reassured him. "We're not even going to close the restraints, so you can get up and walk out at any time. Of course, we'd prefer if you didn't, but by all means do so if it gets painful."

Danny frowned in uncertainly and then climbed onto the table, where he saw what looked like a large machine above of him.

"This won't hurt, Danny-boy!" Jack said as he pushed a few different buttons. A scanner came down a beam that looked like a thin, red laser wall. It travelled from his feet to his head, then back down again.

ANALYSIS COMPLETE. ENTITY CONSISTS OF 97.4 ECTOPLASM, 2.2 OTHER AND 0.4 UNKNOWN MATTER. THANK-YOU FOR USING THE FENTON SCANNER.

"That's... _very interesting..._" Maddie said, screwing her face up in thought as Danny climbed off of the table. "Danny, according to this, there's stuff running through you that's not ectoplasm and not anything else that keeps you stable, and walking. The 'other' part is probably consciousness, but I wouldn't have any clue on what the other 0.4 percent is... Danny, you're different from other ghosts, according to this. Don't you think, Jack?"

"Honey, you've baffled me already. Can I have a Fenton Cookie?" Maddie sighed, pulling a cookie out of the jar beside her and threw it into the air over at Jack. He caught it like a seagull and started to eat it happily.

"Danny, you go and do what you want to do. I'll print the readings out and see if I can find out what the other 0.4 percent of you is. It could be a big breakthrough! Go on, let us handle it."

"Okay then..." Danny said, quite confused. "That's... strange. I'll be upstairs if you want me."

"Right sweetie." Maddie replied while ripping a sheet of paper from a printer, then putting it down and began welding a big machine in the corner with her husband. Danny climbed up the stairs and then to the upstairs bathroom, where he stared into his bright green eyes. However different they appeared, they were... the same. He was surprised at how he could control how intense they were, but no matter what, they always glowed, however faintly. After not blinking for a while, he thought he saw something move from behind him. Like... a shadow, of sorts. He continued to stare, slightly unnerved when three menacing shadows appeared. Danny let out a gasp and turned around, only to find the bathroom completely empty. And as he looked back into the mirror, he thought he saw it. For one fleeting moment, a flash of blue in his eyes.

_Did I just imagine that...?_

_Be careful who you trust... Can you trust them...? Can you __**really **__trust them?_

That was _not _his thought. Danny was standing bolt upright. "Whatever telepathic jerk's doing this can QUIT! IT!!" Danny yelled out angrily. The voice didn't say any more. Danny wasn't really sure whether to be glad that it didn't reply or scared that it might not what he just exclaimed. While he was lost in thought the door slammed open so forcefully that it was a surprise it didn't fall off it's hinges. To Danny's great surprise, it wasn't his father doing so, but Jazz.

"Dannywhat'swrongwhat'sgoingonareyouokaytellmewhat'shappening!!!"

"But - I - _what_?" Danny said in confusion. "Jazz, slow down! You're going a five miles a second!"

"Uh... sorry." she said guiltily, rubbing the back of her neck much like the way Danny often did. "But, seriously, what happened to you? I heard you yell, it reverberated all the way into the loungeroom. I didn't decipher what you were saying but you sound pretty... well, it was either scared or angry. Couldn't tell which."

"It was nothing. I was just angry at myself, it's not anything to worry over, obsess over, or council me over. _Okay?_"

_Can you trust her? Your sister... is she trustworthy? Can you trust her...? Oh... you don't know, do you. Let me help..._

"NO!" Danny screeched. "NO,_NO, __**NO!!!**_ STOP SCREWING WITH MY HEAD!!!"

_You know it's for the greater good..._

"**STOP!!**"

_Okay. That's enough damage for today. Bye Danny!"_

"DAMN YOU, YOU JERK!" Danny screamed once more, holding his head in his hands, whatever moisture left in his body developing into tiny, dry-ish drops. Jazz was breathing heavily, looking at her brother with a shocked and somewhat unreadable expression.

"Danny... there's something seriously wrong..."

"I'll tell you what's wrong!" Danny snapped in unused fury. You can't take things out on a voice. "Some telepathic idiot is messing with my head!"

"Danny, you're snapping." Jazz imformed him. "Please, calm down..."

"How can I calm down when I'm thinking thoughts that aren't even mine?!" Danny screeched. "I - huh?"

_Oh, just me again, I forgot something. Ta!_

Danny passed out cold on the bathroom floor. Jazz went almost as white as Danny as his skull hit the side of the bathtub, for once not phasing through.

_There's something wrong! _Jazz thought in terror. _Oh, there's something __**bloody **__wrong here!_

_-End Chapter 23-_

**Author's Note:**

Kris: Hoy, watch your mouth there!

Moonlight: Hey, it's not nearly as bad as something else I could say! You know for a fact I rarely put those things in. And it's _never _worse than that.

Kris: Dammit, she's right!

Moonlight: Hypocrit.

Kris. Darn, she got me there...

Moonlight: Too right I did. So anyway, please review and, **I have a question that I'd like you to answer in your review. **Do you think I've improved any since I started writing this? I think I have but seriously, I'd like to get other people's opinions. ALSO, just eight more reviews to 160! Let's try and make it that before the next chapter's out okay? Anyway, I've gotta run. I'll be back with another chapter soon!  
Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	25. Breaking News from Wisconsin

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: I know I was supposed to be updating something else, but since I wasn't expecting to hit 160 reviews and I did, I guess I can hold it off for just a few more days... eheh...

Kris: You better update the other one next! -holds ecto-gun to Moonlight's head-

Moonlight: Right! -flees-

**Chapter 24: Breaking News Live from Wisconsin**

Danny opened his eyes. The world was blurred and hazy; a mix of colours and shades flying in different directions...

"Danny! Oh Danny, thank God you're awake!" Maddie said in relief, hugging her baby-boy. "Jazz said you were screaming, then just went out like a light!"

"Hunh?" he replied, eyes unfoccused and confused. "I... what? Fainted?"

"Yeah. Danny, I was really worried, you were screaming out, saying that there was a telepathic jerk was messing with your head... And then... you went white as a sheet and just _fell._" Jazz said as she rubbed his head sympathetically."You hit the bathtub on the way down and started bleeding _green _everywhere... I was so frightened!"

"The green blood was ectoplasm." Maddie explained. "Ghosts are made up mostly of that. I'm just so glad that ghosts heal exceptionally fast; your head is pretty much fine now." she let go of her son finally, as he stepped up from the chair. Outside it was dark, and considering it was Summer, that meant it was at least after nine.

"...How long was I out...?"

"About six and a half hours, Danny boy! We were all... very worried." it was the first time Danny had heard his father so... mature. Usually he was just like a six year-old, but now he was actually acting his own real age. "However, now your back, it's all good!" ah, _there's_ the six year-old.

Maddie was shaking her head. "No, it's not all good. Danny, you were screaming about a telepathic jerk; what was going on?"

"I don't know..." Danny replied. "The last thing I remember was going into the bathroom... That's it, I can only remember... the sound of that _voice..._ It was... sweet and yet malevolent... I can't explain, it's a clash of meaning there, but I can't describe it any better..."

Maddie sighed and kissed Danny's cheek. "Well, we'll just have to hope it never happens again... Look, if you _ever _hear it again, come to us as fast as you can. I don't care if you're in school or whatever, just please, _come_."

"Right." Danny agreed, walking over to the couch, where he sat down and looked at the television. It was showing the news, some report from Wisconsin. Maddie frowned and looked at it.

"Hey, Jack, isn't that where Vlad lives?"

"Vlady sure does! Although it must be pretty important news to make it all the way over here!"

Jazz sat down next to Danny, while Jack and Maddie taking an armchair each to watch the report. Jazz didn't look that interested and to be honest, Danny wasn't either. However, with lack of anything else to do, they both watched it anyway.

"This is Tiffany Snow with a special report all the way in Wisconsin! Aparently, there has been a recent upsurge in _ghost _attacks, leading it to claim the title of second most haunted location, right after our own Amity Park! There have been no less than thirty-eight recent reports of bank roberies where there has not been a _trace _of evidence, the money quite literally disappearing into thin air! We have Lance Thunder on the air interviewing one of the bank managers."

"Thank-you Tiffany! I will now take you to the WW bank in the center of Wisconsin, where bank manager Gerald Jones is here to tell us what he saw when his bank was robbed two days ago. Gerald, what did you witness?"

"Well... I'm really not sure how to explain this, but I was locking up for the night at around... eleven? I just locked the safe only to realize that I'd put my reading glasses in their while putting the money in, and forgot to take them back out. So I went back in and unlocked the safe, only to find everything gone _except _the reading glasses. I was stunned, I'm sure we lost at the very least a few hundred-thousand dollars. And there was no way anyone could have gotten in or known the combination, on top of having the keys without my notice! And I understand that there have been many other burglaries like this all over Wisconsin; I'm not sure what to think, Lance..."

"Well there you have it! 38 banks can't be wrong, there certainly is something strange going on around here. They're calling it the attack of the 'Wisconsin Ghost', and there is a current alert to everyone to be on the look out around here for _anything _out-of-the-ordinary. This has been Lance Thunder, special report news. Back to you Tiffany!"

"Thanks, Lance. We'll have more on that in a few days. In related news, this state has also reported a alarmingly high number of disappearances. Whether or not this has anything to do with the recent burglaries is yet to be seen to. This has been Tiffany Snow, live from Wisconsin!"

"Everyone in the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vechle! We're going to Wisconsin!" Jack said, standing up and posing in a heroic position. Jazz slapped her forehead, while Maddie dragged him back down onto the chair into a sitting position.

"Jack, just remember that Amity Park is still the most haunted place in America. We can always go to Wisconsin some other time."

Jack moaned, while Jazz rolled her eyes and got up. "C'mon Danny, let's go upstairs before dad starts blathering on about ghosts."

"Agreed." Danny said quickly as he stood up and went upstairs with his sister. "Wait a minute, the only times that you ever invite me upstairs at the same time as you is when you want to lecture me!"

"I don't want to lecture you, Danny." Jazz said. "And I don't want to council you, either. I just wanted some... brother sister time where we do something together to help take _both _of our minds off what's going on lately. You know, like Monopoly or just something like that. What do you say?"

"I... well, okay. Promise not to lecture or council?"

"Yes, I do promise." Jazz confirmed. "Come on, we'll go in my room." Danny hadn't been in Jazz's room much lately. And when he had, it was only fleetingly and he never took anything in. She had an overly-large bookcase that was overflowing with books on psychology and other novels. She had a desk with a miniature lamp on it, and pens put neatly in a glass. She opened her cupboard and pointed to the top shelf. "There it is, right at the top. I don't think I can reach, though. Danny, climb onto my shoulders."

Danny raised an eyebrow, then flew up to the top, grabbing the board game. "Don't need to bother with shoulders anymore." He passed the box down to Jazz. She looked at him oddly for a moment.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to you being able to do that, Danny. It's... not even physically possible. Even if you weigh nothing, you shouldn't be able to control where you can go."

Still in the air, Danny just shrugged. "I don't really care. All I know is that I can do it and that's really all that matters." he let himself drop to the floor, where he sat down and Jazz opened the box. They took all the pieces and money out and began setting up. Danny remembered something while they were doing so. "Hey Jazz, didn't dad have a ghost version of Monopoly?"

"Yeah. I never played it though, I fled after I heard him start talking about it."

"Same here." Danny said. "When dad was making the game, he was in the lab. And I don't trust much that gets made down there. Namely the ecto-powered waffle iron."

Jazz squinted as she remembered the day they used that. It was absolute chaos, the waffles had become radioactive without their notice. And after they'd eaten the waffles rather reluctantly, it was too late to save the entire family from a _severe _case of blood poisoning. The lot of them had ended up in hospital that night recovering from it, and thankfully never used the waffle iron again.

When they had finished setting up, Danny chose the car and Jazz took the boat. Before long he had a stack of money, while Jazz had a small, diminished pile. He'd temporarily forgotten everything that was worrying him. And to Jazz, this was her victory.

_-End Chapter 24-_

**Author's Note:**

Okay, (don't kill me for this) I'm going to start revamping the story. You know, add stuff, make the writing flow better... etc. So I won't be properly updating for a while. However, do check back every so often for the redone chapters. They will be different, not changing any of the plot, but they will be different, and hopefully, better than when you first read them. I believe I can make this a much better work...

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	26. The Damage of a Squirrel

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Okay, maybe... I can leave the revamping till later. 1) You guys probsbly don't want this on hiatus, and 2) I'm addicted to writing new chapters.

Kris: Oh my goodness! She saw some sense! -starts clapping-

Moonlight: Be quiet.

**Chapter 25: The Damage of a Squirrel**

Danny awoke the next morning as Jazz shook him from side to side.

"What...?" Danny said in annoyance, not sounding fully awake at all. Jazz began to shake him more vigerously, however Danny made himself become intangible so that her hands just went straight through him.

"Danny, stop that!" said Jazz as she pulled her hands back with surprise. "Come on, it's nine in the morning! What about _Sam_?"

Danny shot up, returning to his normal, tangible state. "Sam! I'm such an idiot - how could I forget!" He quickly pulled out a clean white shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Um, like, aren't you going to have a shower or something?" Jazz asked, pointing towards the bathroom. "Surely you are, right?"

Danny paused for a moment to think, then turned back to face his sister. "Had one last night. I don't need to. Now out, I need to change." Jazz nodded and headed out of Danny's room, closing the door behind herself. When Danny had finished putting his clothes on, he made a mental note to ask his mother to buy him something else other than the white shirts - maybe something black; it'd go better with his hair colour. Sam would _love_ that, the more black everywhere, the better.

Danny came down to the kitchen to see if his mother was there making breakfast, so that he could tell her that he didn't want any, again. However she was nowhere to be found, only Jazz sitting at the table, reading some book about psychology and sipping from a mug of hot cocoa.

"Jazz, where's mu -" there was a loud crash coming from downstairs, startling his sister and causing her to knowck the cocoa over. That was, surprisingly, not uncommon in this house. Danny sighed. "Wait, I know."

Jazz put her book down and attempted to clean the sticky mess. "Actually, it's just dad down there." she paused for a moment. "Well that explains the crash. Mum wasn't there to prevent it." Danny looked somewhat horrified at the thought. The one thing that you shouldn't do, above all, was let his father work _by himself _down in the lab. Danny became intangible and sank through the floor, landing in the basement and looking around at the destruction; half the room was completely blackened and smoking, a destroyed fuel tank sitting to the side where it must have exploded. Jack was huddled in the corner, apparently attempting to shield some kind of invention from harm. And before him floated a seemingly harmless green ghost squirrel. Well, it looked harmless until ravenous long claws appeared from it's front paws. It looked ready to murder the nearest thing that moved with beady, evil, blood-red eyes staring at Jack.

"Dad!" Danny exclaimed, throwing his common sense out the window and tackled the unsuspecting ghost. It hit the wall and glared, rising into the air and extending it's claws further, all the while growling in a raspy voice. It launched at Danny, who became intangible just in time. However the ghost squirrel had obviously been through all this before and the second that Danny became tangible again, came up from behind on the rebound, slashing right down his left arm. Green ectoplasm steadily oozed from the wound and Danny yelled out in pain. Those claws were extremely sharp, and had cut him like a hot knife through butter.

"Danny!" Jack yelled, grabbing a random invention off the table, one that had recently been christened as the Fenton Grapler. "I'm coming son!" He pointed it at the ghost squirrel, which Danny had made himself intangible for lack of ways to safely attack it. Jack fired, capturing the tiny but dangerous squirrel in a net. It didn't even need to become intangible to escape, it merely shreded it with it's razor-sharp claws and was now flying full-speed at it's attacker. Danny flew after it and grabbed it around the stomach, throwing it into the portal that he was next to.

"Dad, shut it!" Danny said. Jack looked outraged for a second.

"Don't speak to your father like that young man!" this statement made Danny slap his forehead with his good arm.

"I mean the portal." Danny replied, clearly annoyed, pointing at the hypnotic green swirl. "Close it before it decides to come back through." a wave of realization swept over Jack's face as he shrugged sheepishly and closed the door to the portal. "Agh... my arm's killing me!" Danny added as he clutched it and looked at the sticky green mess that trailed over the floor. "I need some bandages."

"Your mother has some." Jack said as he ran over to his still floating son and checking his arm.

"Where_ is _mum?"

"Um..." Jack said uncertainly, scratching his head. "In the opp center, I think."

"Thanks." Danny said, becoming intangible and flying upwards. Jazz looked startled as he suddenly came up through the floor right next to her, ultimately causing the spill of her _second _mug of cocoa. Danny rose up to the opp center and saw his mother swirling a cup of coffee and looking out at the view of Amity Park from up there.

"Mum! I need bandages, quickly!" Maddie turned around sharply, and upon seeing the large green wound on Danny's arm, dropped the cup out of the lookout where it smashed on the pavement below.

"Danny!" She screamed, grabbing the first-aid kit off of one of the many tables. Immediately she opened it up and bandaging Danny's large arm. "Oh Danny, what did this to you?"

"It was a ghost." Danny replied, wincing as the bandages wrapped over his arm stung painfully. "It was this tiny little green squirrel thing with claws at least a meter long. It was trying to attack dad in the basement. In the end we managed to throw it into the portal and close it so it couldn't get back out. But it cut through my arm like nothing..."

"Thank heavens your okay..." Maddie replied, wrapping more bandages over his arm and looking at him with sympathy as he cringed from the pain. "You're so brave, Danny, going and saving Jack from that ghost. Who knows what would have happened had that ghost been given the oppitunity to have a real go at him. You're extremely lucky that that wasn't anywhere near your stomach or your face..."

"I was... scared." Danny admitted suddenly. "Is there a way to stop that portal opening from the inside of the Ghost Zone and only let it open from the outside? I don't think I can take more ghost fights..."

"Oh... it's all right sweetie... I'm not surprised you were scared; it's natural to feel that way. Now, I think your arm should heal in about... I don't know, maybe a day or two? That sounds about right."

"What... are you talking about?" Danny asked. "A bruise lasts longer than one or two days, let alone this fissure!"

Maddie paused, thinking. "Well, ghosts theoretically heal much faster than ordinary humans. So that should include you. What about any bumps or bruises or cuts that you recieved earlier in the week, I bet they healed in an instant."

He remembered back for a moment. When he was bitten by that ghost fox, his hand pretty much healed right away. "I think you're right, actually... Anyway, I really think you guys should lock the portal from just opening like that.

"I'm sorry Danny, but there's just no way to do that. Your father and I have tried using the lock, but it's malfunctioning and we can't get it to work, no matter how hard we try. Honey, I would love to say we could, but... we're fighting a losing battle."

"Oh..." Danny replied. "Well... the cut doesn't hurt that much now, can I go and see Sam?"

"Only if I come with you." Maddie replied. "If something happens with that cut, I'll need to be around to help. Ghosts have all kinds of tricks up their sleeve, Danny. Even though I highly doubt it, you could have been poisoned. And that's something you certainly don't want to go untreated, I don't know what I'd do with myself if you were to ever destabilize..."

"Destabilize...?" Danny asked, shifting his feet nervously. "What's that?"

Maddie looked at him for a moment and then, to his surprise, smiled. "Nothing that'll happen to you, dear. It's like a ghost dying, except it's more like_ melting. _It only happens when a ghost is put under extremely severe conditions, like being completely beaten so badly that it could kill a human ten-fold. It's so rare that it's only theoretical, but I still worry... But that's because I'm a mother. Mother's worry."

Danny looked slightly startled. He didn't know ghosts could actually _die_, or... destabilize, or whatever. But still, thankfully, it wasn't too likely. "Mum, c'mon, I want to see Sam now... Y'know, and see that she's okay and all."

"Yes." Maddie agreed. "Sorry about my blathering, normally it's only your father does that. Let's go. And tell me if you feel funny _at all._"

"Yup..." Danny agreed. "You do realize that just being a ghost feels funny anyway, right?"

Maddie gave a very rare roll of the eyes. "You _know_ what I mean. Come on."

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Yay! Instead of writing an average of 1000 words, it's now climbed to 1500 words!

Kris: Good one Moonlight.

Moonlight: Your supposed to hate me, not applaud me. -hits Kris's head-

Kris: Oh dear! Sorry about that! Moonlight_, it's about time your average climbed_! Man... I can't believe I was actually_ proud _of her. Jeez, what am I coming to?

Moonlight: Hmm... Better take you to the nearest asylum.

Kris: -hits Moonlight with plank of wood- Okay! Now I feel sane. -sighs with relief-


	27. Examinations

**Author's Note:**

Hello! Here we are with another update! Chapter 26! Wow, this is getting long. Anyway... since I'm sure there's a few of you who did follow The Secret's Out who read this, I'm going to give you some really, REALLY good news. Since I've pooled some ideas over these -gulps- few months, there _should, _(note the word 'should') be an update within a weeks time. And after that, I _should _be able to keep going without a problem! Yay! I'm really happy now! I've kept you long enough, onto the chapter!

**Chapter 26: Examinations**

Danny climbed into the back of the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vechle. He had remembered the day his father had christened it that, Jack had also mentioned something like, "The longer the name, the cooler and more deadly it will be!" originally, the vechle had been built just after the family had moved to Amity Park. Considering it was supposedly 'the most haunted town in America', his parents dived at the chance and moved before anyone could say anything right, left, or center. Immediately, they built the monstrosity to protect themselves in case some of the more violent ghosts resided here.Of course, they never actually saw anything until he'd walked into the portal. Not even so much as an apparition.

Maddie sat at the drivers' seat, Danny silently glad his father wasn't the one behind the wheel. She appeared to be deep in thought. Danny looked at her oddly, then waved his hand in front of her face. She turned sharply to face him. "Yes?"

"Sorry, you were just sitting there in some kind of trance or something." Danny replied. "You know, just staring blankly into space. You only do it when you're worried about something."

"Oh, really?" Maddie said, surprised that her son had such good observing skills. "Don't you worry, it's nothing."

Danny caught something out of the corner of his eye. He turned and peered out the window, where he saw Jazz approaching them. Maddie put the window down as her daughter began to speak. "I'm coming with you. I know that Sam's _your _friend, not mine, but I just feel that I really should see how she's doing..."

Maddie frowned for a moment, becoming lost in thought for another moment. Then, however, she shook it off and leaned over the front seat to open the door. Jazz muttered "Thanks." as she climbed in. "Danny, don't you always take the front seat - oh." she said as she realized_ exactly _why Danny wouldn't sit there. Not while he was in full view of _everyone. _

"You're lucky you realized that before you finished," Danny said to her, grinning ever so slightly. "for a moment there I thought your IQ had just dropped by an _entire _point."

"Yeah, ha-ha Danny." Jazz replied in a completely not-amused tone.

"But seriously Jazz, what would you do if that were to really happen?"

"I - I..." she said, trying to pull her thoughts together. "I'm not answering that. You're trying to mess with me."

Maddie turned to the two, frowning. "Danny, stop mocking your sister. I won't have it. We have all these horrible things happen, and here you two are fighting!" Danny rolled his bright green eyes and nodded slightly glumly. Maddie returned her own violet-coloured eyes to the windshield and started up the heavily-modded RV, making it rattle rather violently.

"Uhh... mum? Are the extra ghost-weapons _by any chance _not the only things that have been tampered with in this RV?" Danny asked, feeling himself rumble in unision with his seat.

"Oh that," Maddie said as she put it into reverse. "Your father put some extensions on it after the malevolent ghosts started to come through the portal. Y'know, to make it go faster."

"WHAT?!" both Jazz and Danny yelled at the same time. Maddie seemed startled at their reaction, but then quickly caught on.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't drive at that kind of speed, and it has been tested. I'm not about to go over 150mph."

Jazz's breathing quickened and Danny, even though he knew he could save himself if they were to crash, looked at his mother horrifically. "Mum! What about the speed limit?! If you crash you'll kill yourself and Jazz!"

"No, I won't Danny. I'm very good at driving, you've nothing to worry about. Either of you."

As the RV pulled out of the driveway a little too quickly, Jazz begun a death-grip onto her own seat. And, she was right in doing so, too. It turned out that Maddie drived almost as violently ad Jack did, speeding through the cars. Danny wondered how on earth his parents got away with it at all; it was unconsionable how the police just let it slide without a word. It was now officially on his mental 'Things to Figure Out List'. And after the accident, there was a heck of a lot of things on there.

A shaky Jazz got out of the car when they arrived at the hospital, thankful that she could put her feat down on land. Nice, stable, unmoving land. Danny got out of the car and was immediately noticed by a few people walking in the street. While some just stared, others came for a closer look. Maddie pulled her son close to herself protectively, then looked at the people with a glare that could send a lion scurrying. No one dared to get any closer, whatsoever. Then, after giving them one last look, she steered her daughter and her son into the large hospital.

Inside the waiting room, there were only a few people. One was asleep (or unconscious, it was hard to tell) in a chair, the other was absorbed in reading a fairly thick magazine, and the other was the same lady that had helped Danny the other day. She gasped slightly, but then shook herself from it and tried her best to act completely normally. "Umm... How may I help you?" she asked as they reached the counter.

"We'd like to visit Samantha Manson, please." Maddie said. "She's a friend of Danny's."

"Wait up a second... You're his mother?! What happened to that kid, I've never seen anything like it!"

"Oh... it was just... a lab accident. He's fine, just a little different now. It'll wear off soon."

"Right..." the nurse said, trying to process the information. "You realise that for your son to look like that, his DNA must be completely messed up. I don't think it'd be temporary if _that's _the case. Are you sure he's fine? Maybe he should get some treatment. And what's with the heavily bandaged arm, let me take a look."

"No!" Danny said, pulling his arm back. "Seriously, I'm fine! It's just a cut from the accident, it's nothing at all!"

The nurse looked at him for a moment. Then she frowned. "Kid, you're a terrible liar; this is not 'nothing at all'. Let me see that arm, it could be infected." She came around from the counter and grabbed at Danny's arm, only to pass through it. She gasped and looked at Maddie in shock. "_What, _may I ask, kind of accident does _this?_ What the heck did he have an accident with?!"

"It's nothing!" Danny insisted, backing away. The fight had induced the one conscious patient's stare, finally taking his head out of the magazine it was previously buried in. "It was just an accident that had a few weird side effects! Other than that, I'm fine! Walking, talking, breathing, everything important!" the breathing part was a little bit of a stretch. It probably should be 'breathing if I want to', but he wasn't about to say that; that would be stupid.

The nurse thought for a moment. "I can see where you're coming from. But nonetheless, we're going to examine you. This needs to be tended to, whether you like it or not!"

The nurse got closer, while Maddie took an unsuccessful grab at him. The nurse gasped again as she saw Maddie's gloved fingers just pass through him, as if he wasn't even there. But the real kicker was that the kid had become an icy-blue colour and somewhat-transparent at the same time.

"Okay, there's no _way_ that there's nothing going on here!" the baffled nurse said as Danny returned to his normal state. "Tell me right now what happened to this boy, and you're not going anywhere until you do!"

The seemingly unconscious man joined the other patient at staring unblinkingly at Danny. Danny edged away from the nurse a little more, pressing his back against the wall and looking nervously at the people in the room. "I - I..." Danny didn't want to say it. He couldn't say it; even if he said it to himself, it was _confirming _his current condition. And despite all the good things, that was the last thing he wanted to do. The nurse grew tired of getting an answer out of none of them, so she came up to Danny, took his now tangible arm and pulled the bandages off without consent. What she saw next looked like it could have given her a heart attack. A larde, glowing green cut was revealed on his arm, which he quickly hid behind himself.

"It's _green!_" the nurse exclaimed, backing away. "_Green!!_"

Maddie approached her and started whispering into her ear. And Danny could guess what his mother was telling her, by the way her jaw was becomin unhinged. Danny looked around, going an even unhealthier shade of white, when he saw Sam running up to him. She still had an eyepatch over her eye

"Danny!" she said, grinning madly. "It worked, my eye's gonna be fine!"

Completely forgetting about the nurse, Danny broke into a huge, rare grin. "That's great! When can you come back home?"

"Soon, I hope." she said, making a sour face. "This hospital food's disgusting. I mean _really _disgusting! The omelets are like frisbees, if yoiu threw one at the wall, it'd shatter!"

Danny shuddered at the thought. "And you seriously had to eat that thing? Eeew, that's just... gross! Hey, did your parents ever come?"

"No." she answered, a little glad, and a little annoyed at the same time. "They were too busy out shopping for the _next _pink, stereotyped frilly dress for me to wear. Too busy with that to visit their own daughter. Ah well. At least if they don't come, they can't bring anything pink with them." Sam grinned slightly, which looked more like a smirk. Danny laughed at the thought of the scene, Sam in a hospital bed clutching her eye, while her parents were trying to persuade her to pick herself out of bed and try a dress on. "Danny, I'm just so relieved it's over. Hense me talking so much, man I'm such a spazz. How's Tucker?"

"Oh." Danny said, his face darkening from the bright cheerfulness that had just enveloped it. "He's really sick, this bad flu bug. He can barely talk, and when he does, you can barely understand it..."

Sam frowned, a little sympathetic. "That sounds nasty... Well, when you see him next tell him I'm fine and that I hope he gets better soon."

"I will." Danny agreed, looking out the door. Suddenly he saw the two forms that made up Sam's parents. "Oh no... Sam, your parents are here!"

"What?!" she said, as though it was some kind of joke. However when she looked also, she gained an expression on her face that clearly said 'about to throw up'. "Oh brother..."

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: That was over 2000 words! Yay, I hit a record for a multi chapter story!

Kris: Now you have to face the grueling task of increasing it _further._

Moonlight: I... well, I... hope I can do it... Anyway, I'm sure everyone's glad I'm finally beginning to get a longer length, no?

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	28. Hospital Fued

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Here you go, another chapter!

Kris: ...

Moonlight: Hey, I think she's sleeping! Score!

Kris: ... Huh ...?

Moonlight: -sighs- So close and yet so far...

**Chapter 27: Hospital Fueds**

Danny started to feel a horrible sinking feeling as the two Manson parents approached the building. Seconds later, no one could see him anywhere, and he was quite glad that they couldn't. He knew from personal experience that those two were not ones for _anything _out-of-place, and his situation right now was more than just out-of-place. Sam looked around, slightly confused, then realized why.

"Samantha, dear, how's your eye? I hope it doesn't leave some kind of horrible scar, that would be dreadful." Pamela Manson said, frowning. "Well, we'll find out soon enough. Guess what we found for you at the mall while you were here?!"

"_Oh dear God,_" Sam said, a look of disgust creeping over her face. "What?"

"This!" Jeremy Manson grinned, pulling the fluffiest, frilliest, _pinkest, _girlyest dress ever imaginable. "Oh Sam, isn't it just _beautiful? _You'll be able to wear it all the time!"

Sam looked horrified. She could face some of the darkest, most dangerous things in the world, and still, this would be exceedingly more terrifying to her. "No, absolutely _not!! _There isn't a hope in hell or high water, that I will ever, _ever _put that _pink fashion disaster _on! You can't make me, I just had _surgery _for Pete's sake!"

"Oh, now Samantha... we went out and bought this especially for you..." her mother said, a hurt tone in her voice. "At least try it on!"

"No!" Sam said angrily, the fight attracting a passing doctor's attention, the one that just happened to be the one that had taken her to surgery last night. "I don't want to try it on, _why can't you two accept me for who I am!?_"

Pamela sighed, looking at the dress. Jeremy put it carefully back into the bag, with the same loving care that Tucker showed his PDA. And_ that _was scary. "Oh Sammy, why you won't try to look your full beautiful potential? I'll never understand you..."

"Only because you've never tried." Sam replied icily, completely rebounding her mother's attempt at gaining sympathy. The doctor, clearly sick of the argument, put himself between the fueding parents and child.

"Come now, Sam, you need rest; you should get back to your room. And Mr. and Mrs. Manson, I take it? Please, your daughter needs some R and R. Why don't you try talking to her about something she likes after we get back to her room, as she clearly does not like that. I was talking to her after she had the operation, and she likes Goth Haikou, what about that?"

"We're not going to talk about that horrible subculture! It's a smear on the good name of Manson!" Pam screached. "I'll never speak of such a horrifying thing!"

Sam sighed deeply. "I'm going back to my room. You guys can come if you want." she said, looking at Maddie and Jazz, knowing Danny would get the message too. She didn't say another word to her parents as she entered the elevator. Maddie, Jazz and Danny followed, however the Mansons just stood there. Sam didn't care at all, she was angry that all her mother cared about was some horrible pink dress and the fact that she might have scarring. She led them to her room, where she sat down on her bed. Danny became visible again just as he closed the door.

"Sam, you always said to me your parents were eccentric about pink. I never knew how eccentric until a few moments ago."

"Ugh, I know. But, unfortunately for them, I'm not the pretty little elaborate-dress loving girl that they want. And to them, that's a problem."

The room was awkwardly quiet, no one said anything to that for a little while until eventually Danny thought of something to say. "Well, I don't care. If you were their 'pretty little elaborate-dress loving girl', then I wouldn't be friends with you and you'd be with the shallow popular kids."

Sam smirked, then shuddered. "Danny, after everything else, only now am I officially mortified." Everyone in the room cracked a smile. But then, as always, Jazz became more serious.

"So... anyway, how's your sight going to be? Are there going to be marks?"

"I can see out of it fine. I just need the patch 'cos it hurts to look at the light. Of course, it hurt to look at the light beforehand, but you know what I mean. The doctor says that there's a tiny, blurry spot on my eye where they took the metal out; it's actually scarring. But thank God he says that it's barely noticeable. You heard what mum said."

"Yeah..." Jazz agreed. "Anyway, we got you something. Here." she pulled out from her bag a large, foil-wrapped slice of cream-cake that was topped off with assorted berries. It was from their freezer and Jazz hoped that the rest of the family would go along with the 'it's from all of us' thing. Fortunately, they caught on immediately.

Sam's one visible eye widened at the sight. "It looks so rich!" she exclaimed, taking the small present from Jazz. "Where'd you buy it?"

"Didn't buy it. That's the result of mum's cooking when we keep the food away from anything ecto-powered or been in the lab for more than five minutes. Try it, it's really nice. And nothing that has a face on it was used in the ingrediants."

Sam smiled, putting the cake to the side on the bedside table. "Thanks, really thanks, but I'm not that hungry right now; I'll wait for lunch. Goodness know's what they're serving, probably bread as harder than a cement brick."

--

Maddie and Jazz eventually left to go out and get some lunch, while Danny stayed to talk to Sam. Around an hour later, Maddie and Jazz returned, both sagging slightly. Danny was confused; something was wrong with them. "Uh... are you guys okay?"

"We only just got past that nurse on the way back. They want to keep you here to do a lot of examinations. Bloodtests, catscans... you name it, well, you get the picture. We need to go before they do any of that. Sorry." Danny cringed at the horrible thought of lots of painful tests, and he knew that somewhere along the line, _very _painful experiments would probably be included.

"I better go, Sam." Danny said. "I'll call you tomorrow." he then tried to become invisible. However, it was flickery this time, and he didn't have a great deal of control over it. He had to go looking completely visible, whether he liked it or not, because flickering from visible to invisible would be asking for it. It earned strange looks from everyone, but it had been the same effect at school. They had to get into the lift with another family; a mother, a husband and a four year-old girl. She looked at him oddly as they got in, then tugged on his jeans.

"Why do you look all pale and glowy?"

"Anita!" her mother exclaimed. "Don't, that's rude."

"But he looks weird mummy! Why do you look like that?"

"I, uhh..." Danny said, unsure of what to say, or if he should say anything at all.

"Why does your voice echo like that?" she questioned also. "That's so cool!"

"Mummy said _no, _Anita." her father added sharply.

"It's okay, she's only little." Danny said, looking down at her. She was pretty cute; she had brown hair in two pigtails and a blue top and skirt. The innocense she seemed to give off was the icing on the cake. "But if it's alright... I guess I'd rather not say."

"Aww..." Anita said disappointingly. Her mother shook her head.

"Anita, if the boy doesn't feel comfortable saying anything, then he doesn't have to. Although I'm fairly sure it would be an... _interesting _story, you can't just force someone to say things that they'd prefer to keep private. It's not polite."

"Ok..." she said sadly as the doors opened up at the ground floor. As if waiting for them, (actually, that's probably exactly what she was doing) the nurse appeared, arms crossed. Danny gasped.

"Look, I don't know what you think, but your son's condition _is not normal! _I'm sorry Mrs. Fenton, but your son is a ghost; and the way it happened, it was technically you that killed him." The family gaped, except the girl, she was more fascinated than anything else.

"There's no one to blame for this other than myself!" Danny said, eyes flashing dangerously, becoming a brighter green than before. "It was a stupid move on my behalf, and my family are not the ones who should be suffering because of it! You're not going to do _anything _with me, and you're not going to do anything to them, either!" The nurse dive-grabbed Danny, clutching him tightly.

"Kid, don't you get it? Maybe we can treat this!"

"Well, fine." Danny said, getting rather annoyed. "Find a cure. If you lot think you know how to revive someone who's dead, then by all means, try it." Danny paused, realising he'd just said it. It was confirming it. But suddenly, he didn't really care anymore. "But concidering that that's physically impossible, please, just let me go."

"No, we're going to treat you!" the nurse said, a determined expression on her face. "Surely you don't want to live like this!"

"I don't really care anymore." Danny replied untruthfully. "Just let me go before I _make _you let me go!"

"No!" the nurse said, although a little shaken about what Danny had said. He merely sighed, became intangible, and walked out of her grasp. The two parents were now completely stunned, Anita only even more fascinated.

"Keep away from my boy!" Maddie said, going into over-protective mother mode. "You have no right to be doing this! He's been through more than you could ever imagine in the past week and you're only making things worse for him!"

"Mum's right!" Jazz said. "This is cruel, we're not going to make him go in for a whole lot of tests, it's absurd! He's only fourteen, and the thing that did this to him was an _accident_!"

"Fine." the nurse said, looking completely different from when Danny first met her. She crossed her arms. "You know that eventually I _will _make sure that you get your justice. And this boy _will _be treated. Clear?"

"Whatever. But you might want to find the cure before you try and treat me; that always helps." Danny said angrily. "And I'm sorry, but I don't think you're going to find one."

Danny walked over to the door, Maddie and Jazz following quickly after. He walked through only after his mother and sister had triggered the sensor. Danny quickly climbed into the RV with Jazz, however Maddie lingered outside. Danny stuck his head out the window to see why, when he spotted the other family coming towards them. came straight up to the door where Danny was poking his head out, while the mother and father approached Maddie, who was right next to the window too.

"We're... so sorry about what happened." the mother said. "It must be so hard, with people acting like that nurse."

"Don't be sorry." Danny replied before his own mother could. "It's not your fault."

"Yes, well... I still feel sorry for all of you to have to go through this..."

Maddie and Anita's mum started talking. Anita looked at Danny with curiosity, then finally asked, "Are you really a ghost?" Danny nodded silently, then Anita grinned. "That's so cool!"

"Really?" Danny asked. "Thanks."

Anita's father held her hand. "Come on Anita, we'd better go. Anne? Come on, remember, I've got to go to work; I'll be late."

"Oh yes, sorry dear." Anita's mother said. "Say goodbye Anita."

"Bye!" Anita said as she waved and was steered away by her parents. Maddie got into the car and buckled up.

"Looks like not everyone's biased, Danny." she said as she smiled and started the engine, making Jazz resume her death-grip.

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: And there it is, after spending my entire Saturday writing.

Kris: Moonlight, has it ever occured to you that you spend your _entire_ day reading and writing when your not forced to do something else?

Moonlight: It has now! O.O But why are you complaining, every minute I write is another minute you can go wild.

Kris: Fair enough.

Moonlight: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! In Australia the Summer holidays are finally over so expect updates less often. My Italian class is feral! AAGHR!!

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	29. A Realization

**Disclaimer:**

Just for the references, I also don't own Lord of the Rings.

**Author's Note:**

Kris: So... another update.

Moonlight: Yup. You don't sound too enthusiastic.

Kris: It's hard to be enthusiastic when you go to bed at 4:00am and wake up at 8. I'm tired. Not everyone has chronic insomnia, Moonlight.

Moonlight: Oh, fine then. Go to sleep.

Kris: Maybe I will!

**Chapter 28: A Realization  
**

Jazz relaxed as the RV pulled up in front of FentonWorks. Danny quickly got out and hurried inside, holding the door open for his mother and sister. Jazz went straight up to her room (no doubt to do homework) as Maddie put her bag down on the kitchen table and began to make something for Jack's lunch. "Danny, you're not hungry, are you?"

"No." Danny replied.

"And you're not thirsty?"

"Not the slightest."

Maddie sighed deeply, becoming lost in thought again. "I just can't really get it through my head that you don't need to anymore. My brain just doesn't seem to want to register it."

"I think I know what you mean." Danny replied. "Anyway... I'm going up to my room; I've got howework I need to do sooner or later."

"Okay then, sweetie. If you need me, just give me a shout."

Danny walked up the staircase, tripping halfway because of an intangible foot. After sitting on his bed, he took off the bandage to take a peak. The wound had already healed quite a lot, it was now just a thin green line. He changed the bandages for fresh ones, then got his schoolbag out, pulling The Lord of the Rings from it's depths. Danny opened it, not really wanting to read it much, but starting anyway. Even if it was a nice break from worksheets and projects, the book was hard to follow and he often found himself repeating entire pages so he could make sense of it. It was even more annoying when he dropped the book through intangible hands, nearly always losing the page in the process.

After a few hours, he managed to get through the first two chapters. At least he'd only have to read one more chapter tomorrow. He closed the book, dropping it one more time before putting it on top of his bedside table. He'd have to stop putting things there; it was getting rather cluttered.

Danny headed over to his desk and opened his laptop, waiting for at least ten minutes for it to boot up. _No wonder... _he thought after he scanned it and saw a list of spyware pop up longer than all of his parent's jumpsuits strapped together in one long line. After wondering how they all got there and deleting them, the computer moved drastically faster. Suddenly there was an alert at the bottom.

_Windows Live Messenger  
Tucker says:  
Hey Danny!_

Danny clicked it and brought up the chat window.

_Tucker says:  
Hey Danny!_

_Danny says:  
Hi, how are you feeling? Won't your mum kill you if she finds you on the computer?_

_Tucker says:  
Yeah, probably. But I don't care._

_Danny says:  
Lol, how are you anyway?_

_Tucker says:  
Ugh, still can't talk properly, but it's getting a little better. I dunno if I'll be at school on Monday, though. _

_Danny says:  
I didn't expect ya to be anyway. You looked half-dead._

_Tucker says:  
That's a bit rich coming from you._

_Danny says:  
Figure of speech, Tuck._

_Tucker says:  
Brb, my MSN's going haywire again..._

_Tucker may not reply as he or she is Busy_

Danny closed the window and opened up the powerpoint he'd been working on. After adding a few more slides, Tucker went offline completely and didn't come back for a full fifteen minutes.

_Tucker has signed in._

_Tucker says:  
Back._

_Danny says:  
What happened?_

_Tucker says:  
My computer froze up and the connection dropped._

_Danny says:  
Ok. Sam's eye is fine!_

_Tucker says:  
Really?!_

_Danny says:  
No, I'm just saying it because I feel like it._

_Tucker says:  
Huh?_

_Danny says:  
Note the sarcasm._

_Tucker says:  
Oh, that's great!_

_Danny says:  
Yeah, I know. She shouldn't be in too much longer either._

_Tucker says:  
Cool._

_Tucker says:  
Oh God, it's mum. See ya Danny._

_Tucker has signed out._

Danny closed the window and started looking at the powerpoint, suddenly feeling no urge to go on with it. So he closed the laptop down, shutting the screen carefully. The sun shon brightly now at full-Summer intensity. It must have been fairly hot, but he had no way of telling. All Danny did was look out the window absently for a little while, watching some birds in a nearby tree twitter and scurry around.

The peace was broken from a deafening blast, sounding horribly similar to nitro glycerine, coming from downstairs in the lab. The birds flew away immediately, and it felt like there was a miniture quake going on. "What the hell...?" Danny said to no one in particular. It was probably another one of the inventions that his mother and father had cooked up down there. This wasn't the first, and no doubt not the last thing that had blown up in that lab. Even with the high rate of explosions, Danny was still worried. Even to someone with well-trained hands, that place could be a death-trap. And he'd been one to experience it first-hand.

Becoming intangible, Danny dropped through the floor and landed in the basement, finding the half of the place that didn't hold any inventions. And there, in a corner, was a mangled, smoking gas bottle. However, what really mattered was that his parents were nowhere to be found. That was, until they came scurrying into the basement with Jazz. "Danny, what on earth happened?!" Maddie exclaimed, looking at the amount of damage. "This place looks like a bomb's hit it!"

"Technically, it was a gas bottle." Danny said, pointing at it. "I was just in my room when I heard an explosion."

Jazz looked around, trying to find a cause for the blast. Suddenly she pointed to the portal. "Mum, dad, the portal's open, something must have gotten at that gas bottle!"

"Actually," Maddie started. "It's an ecto-bomb, It just looks like a gas bottle. Whatever set that off I bet had the fright of it's life. It would have weakened it significantly, I'm surprised it made it back to the Ghost Zone."

Jazz looked absolutely horrified. "You've been keeping an _ecto-bomb?!! _What the heck have you two been smoking?! If you haven't noticed, Danny's almost_entirely _composed of ectoplasm! If he had have been down here when that blast happened, think of the state he'd be in!"

"But it was a safety measure!" Jack countered. "We made it to protect our stuff from the ghosts coming through our unclosable portal. We decided that if it looked like a gas bottle, a malevolent ghost wouldn't be able to resist setting it off before going for anything else. So in that way, it was a success!"

"But you could have_ hurt_ Danny!" Jazz tried to explain to her parents. "An ecto-bomb might mean nothing but a blackened face to us, but to him it could be pain like getting into the Fenton Portal all over again! Can't you see that...?"

Jack was about to argue back, but Maddie, being a little more rational, cut him off. "Actually, I think... you're right, Jazz. We didn't really think about that... But we should have. You two go upstairs, we better start cleaning this place up."

--

The rest of Danny's day was pretty much devoted to art. Although, it had become rather annoying when he kept dropping fineliners, pencils and paint brushes on top and putting great big, uwanted lines over the canvas. More than once, Danny was putting yet another layer of white over the ruined painting from a dropped brush. Eventually, it came to the point where he cursed and packed up, knowing that only when and if he ever got some proper control over these ghost powers, he would be able to finish.

Soon afterwards, Maddie called dinner. Tonight, she'd cooked a roast chicken, thankfully, not in the radioactive microwave. Danny couldn't help but notice that he actually felt the _tiniest _bit hungry. But only barely, easily ignorable and somewhat unnoticeable. When he told Maddie he was going to eat, she choked on the glass of water she was drinking, looking at him strangely. "I thought you had no desire to eat anymore!"

"Actually, I'm a little hungry now. Dunno why, though." Danny replied.

Maddie continued to look at him strangely, getting that glazed look in her eyes when she was thinking deeply. She then shook her head. "No... it _can't _be..."

"What?" Danny asked, curious on what she was musing about. "Tell me."

"_Just _being able to taste... feeling a _slight _twinge of hunger... 0.2 percent other... Danny... I think it's all related!"

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Sorta a cliffy. I think many of you will have pieced together what these things mean, first person to tell me how and why these things are related gets a virtual cookie!

Kris: Sorta a cliffy? What do you mean_sorta _a cliffy? Either it is one or it isn't!

Moonlight: Actually, it depends on what view you take it on.

Kris: I am unsure of your logic.

Moonlight: Never mind...

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	30. It's in the Blood

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: It's time for chapter 29! Hope you enjoy it!

Kris: Anyway... in other news, good on you FernClaw and luckygirl777 for your guesses! Virtual cookies to both of you, now you can wait and see if your guesses were right. It may take 3 - 7 chapters to be fully revealed though.

Moonlight: I'll give you another virtual cookie if you're right, and thanks to all of my other reviewers! I couldn't ask for better readers. Sincerely, I thank you all.

**Chapter 29: It's in the Blood**

"W - what?" Danny asked. "What do you mean by connected? Why's it so important?"

"Oh Danny, I don't know." Maddie said. "It's so much of a stretch, and yet all the evidence is pointing to it. All of it. I need a blood sample for it, though. We can do it after dinner."

"Umm..." Danny said, mentally cringing at the thought of a long blood-test needle. He tried to push it out of his mind. "All... right. Anyway... can I have just a bit of chicken, I'm not extremely hungry."

Maddie nodded, using the Fenton Knife to shave off a large bit of chicken, put it on a plate, and handed it to Danny. "Take a knife and fork and go and sit at the table, Danny." she said kindly, before yelling, "Jazz, Jack! Dinner! We've got a roast!"

Jack thundered down the stairs - he must have been up in the opp center. A disgruntled Jazz followed shortly afterwards, mumbling something about what would happen if Jack fell down and smashed through the stairs. She looked at Danny oddly, seeing him holding a plate with some chicken. "Umm, Danny? Not to be rude, but why are you eating?" Danny merely shrugged.

"Just hungry. That's all."

Jazz looked at him oddly for an even longer time, before sighing. "You, little brother, are a mystery."

"That's what I was wondering." Maddie said. "We're going to do a test after dinner to see if what I _think _is right."

Jack looked up from the plate full of roast he was holding, beaming at Maddie. "Oh boy, tests! How many Mads?!"

Danny and Jazz rolled there eyes simultaneousely, while Maddie smacked herself in the head. "Jack, dear, we're only doing one, repeat_, one_ test, and that's just a blood sample. Or really, in this case it's an ectoplasm sample, but you know what I mean."

Jack sighed disappointingly, taking his rather large plate to the table, beginning to tear through the meal. Danny took his over, the plate phasing through his hands and falling with a clang on the table. Thankfully, not turning over or spilling anything everywhere. Finally Jazz and Maddie brought their dinner over and started to eat.

"Mmm Mmmmm, mmmm mmmm mmmmm?" Jack said through a full mouth. Maddie pointed out to him to swallow his food before he spoke, and he finally did so. Not without great effort, though. "Hey Danny, want some gravy?"

Danny shuddered. "Dad, I don't like gravy."

Jack shrugged. "All the more for me!" he then began to pour nearly three-quarters of the _entire _thing, then handing it to Maddie. She sighed and put half of the rest on her meal, then handed it to Jazz. She looked at the tiny bit left and poured on what little was left.

As Danny ate, there was still not a great deal of taste. It wasn't exactly as good to eat as it once was; now with most of the taste gone, it was more like stringy rubber. Nonetheless, he ate all of it, not wanting anything else whatsoever once he'd finished. Maddie quickly polished off the rest of her meal and grabbed his arm. Her grip was so tight that Danny automatically phased through it.

"Not so tight!" he said in annoyance, rubbing the mark his mother had made. She appoligized, grabbing his hand gently this time, then taking him down into the lab. Maddie then fumbled through the draws, trying to find some equipment. Eventually, she found a rather long sterylized needle.

"Alright, I know it looks intimidating, but just hold out your arm. I promise it'll be quick. And if it helps, don't look." nodding, Danny looked away, closed his eyes and held out his arm. Maddie softly took hold of it and stuck the needle-point into his skin, causing him to yelp in pain. His mother was obviously inexperienced at this kind of procedure, as it felt like the tip was moving around, causing Danny to not only feel more pain, but also making him feel sick in what should be a non-existant stomach.

And then it was out. Maddie taped some cotton onto his skin, so there'd be no excess ectoplasm leakege. "Danny, I'm going to start testing this. Go up and tell your father to come and help me. I'm not sure how long it will take, though. Hopefully it will just be a few hours."

"Okay." Danny replied, rubbing his arm. "Thanks, I... guess."

Maddie watched as her son rose through the roof as if it were completely normal to do so. Well, to him it should be normal by now. It's that small fact that really ate at her - not only was her son a ghost, but he was_ used _to being one. Even at risk of sounding like Jazz, that seemed a sign that he'd given in to his status. That he'd accepted it, that he really did _believe _that there was no way to cure it. Well, there wasn't technically, but when Maddie Fenton gets serious, boy, does she get serious. And, as she observed the contents in the needle, sure enough, it seemed that ectoplasm wasn't the only thing in there. Floating all on it's own, was the tiniest drop of red blood.

They had hope.

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Sorry for the short chapter _and _the miniature cliffhanger. I wanted to get it up today; yesterday I just couldn't get my act together and today I had a whole lot of maths homework dumped on my shoulders. That had to be done TONIGHT!!! Besides, it works better if I stop here, otherwise I could end up screwing things up.

Kris: Heh, it's getting close. Very, very close. Will Maddie ever cure her baby-boy? More chapters coming soon, even if it makes Moonlight break a few limbs.

Moonlight: Actually Kris, we're stuffed if I break my arms.

Kris: Oh, it better just be the legs, then.

Moonlight: _**Please review! So close to 200! A virtual cookie goes to the 200th reviewer!!!**_

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	31. Sweet Dreams

**Author's Note:**

Before I say anything else, OVER TEN-THOUSAND HITS! Repeat, that's over 10,000!!! (well, actually it hit that 2 chapters ago, but I haven't checked the stats for a while) Thanks to all of my reviewers, I'm pretty sure that I replied to you all, but if I missed someone I'm sorry. Now, to fill your desire, Chapter 30! (wow, that's a lot!) Oh yeah, and cookies to whoever else decided to take a crack at guessing what would happen next. I love it when people do that!

**Chapter 30: Sweet Dreams**

Danny slept fitfully that night. His dreams were haunted by a strange machine, repeatedly seeing his human-self crumble to it's knees from third-person. Over and over and over...

Jazz woke abruptly as she heard a horrible scream come from her little brother's room. Not bothering to even pull her dressing gown on, she flung the covers of her bed off and flew out the door, racing to Danny's bedroom. She found him, sitting bolt-upright with glowing green eyes looking around the room urgently. He calmed as he saw his sister standing at the door.

"Danny, what's wrong?!" Jazz said quickly. "I heard you scream!"

"It was just a nightmare..." replied Danny, rubbing the back of his neck. "Really, it's nothing Jazz. You should go back to bed."

Jazz shook her head, looking impatient. "No, little brother. You need help, you never scream after waking up from a nightmare. I don't think this is a coincidence, spit it out."

Knowing he couldn't argue, he decided to say something to her. But... he wanted to leave out a few_ details. _"It was horrible... I kept... um... I can't remember."

Jazz's eyebrows furrowed together as she appeared deep in thought. Biting down on her lip, she shook her head. "It's... just a nightmare. Try and get some sleep, Danny."

Jazz moved out of the room, closing the door behind her. Good - that was a chance to gather his thoughts about that dream...

_Mom - putting a metal wrist bracelet that was hooked up to a strange machine onto my arm..._

_The flash - so bright it was impossible to see..._

_The crumble - where I fell to my knees, gasping for air..._

_The darkness - covering my sight even from third-person..._

_The infinite darkness..._

Danny shook his head, shuddering. The whole thing had chilled the very marrow of his bones, and he didn't know why - it was just a dream. However, there was a second dream, too. About the ghost portal, when he got shocked. This one was in first person, and somehow, more disturbing than the last.

_I was all by myself, as a human, in the basment of my house. Knowing my parents were out, I decided to put on a skintight jumpsuit. The ghost portal they had constructed wasn't working, and they were devistated... So I looked around inside the portal. It was dark and eerie, the whole thing creeped me out. My whole body shaking, I looked at the wall. Lit by barely any light, there was an 'ON' button, and an 'OFF' button. If I was right, this would open the ghost dimension right up. I gingerly approached the buttons, and pressed 'ON'. Lights lit up all around the structure, and I panicked. Then, barely audible, there was a message that I don't think anyone else could have heard._

_"WARNING: ECTO-PURIFIER IN ECTO-FILTRATOR TOO CONCENTRATED. PLEASE MOVE ONE METER AWAY FROM THE FENTON GHOST PORTAL WHILE RELEASING UNEEDED ECTOPLASMIC PRODUCTS INTO GHOST ZONE." _

_I did the one thing I could do as the door closed behind me, leaving me trapped. I screamed._

And, he figured, that was what must have made him scream in real life, too. He couldn't sleep anymore - that was that. Normally he wouldn't be so fearful, but those two dreams, especially one after the other, had really shaken him. He floated out of bed, so as not to make any noise, then approached the closet and pulled out the inverted Hazmat suit. Pulling it on over his pajamas, Danny then approached the window, phasing through it. He checked his parent's room, and thankfully, they were sound asleep. So he rose up through the heights of the sky, looking down at Amity Park with illuminated green eyes. He flew over it, watching as the cars went by below him, feeling the wind in his hair and his face. Finally, he was getting a lot more steady with the whole flying thing. He only wobbled when an unexpected amount of wind blew at him from the side. Right now, he didn't really care that his family could be worrying about where he could be. For the moment, he was free of everything - worry, people... everything...

Danny looked down below. He had a fairly good mental-map of Amity Park from hanging out with Sam and Tucker; they had often just wandered aimlessly through the relatively small town, and that was the result. However, from the air, it was not nearly the same. From the air, the view was beautiful. He could see the nearby mountain, the arcade and the movie theater all at the same time.

Danny finally flew home, even though he would have prefered not to. Luckily, no one was any the wiser about his little midnight flight; or so he thought as he pulled the jumpsuit off to reveal his pajamas underneath. Jazz opened the door abruptly, causing him to gasp in fright. "Crud."

Jazz shook her head. "No, it's alright." she said, patting him on the back, thankfully with no hint of intangibility included. "I think you needed that. Besides... you looked so... _peaceful._"

"I, uhh..." Danny stuttered, surprised at the calmness at his sister's voice; he expected her to be chewing his head off. "Didn't expect that."

"I knew you wouldn't. I heard mum talking with you maybe... two to four nights ago. You thought I'd yell at you, right? I don't think you should be yelled at for something that helps you calm yourself in that way and achieve that level of serenity. I don't think I've ever seen you look so happy."

"Umm..." Danny really wasn't sure what to say about this. So his sister continued.

"I don't know if you really even notice this yourself, but... Danny, I don't think you really want to give up some of your ghostly traits, even to become human again."

Danny choked at that. Not literally, but that statement had given him a surprise even though he was half expecting it. "And... what are you trying to get at, here?"

"I'm trying to say, that I don't think that mum and dad are going to succeed. Even if they've been spending their every waking moment down in that infernal basement since dinner, and not saying a word to us or each other, I just... don't think it's possible for them to achieve their goal. Danny, I'm sorry, but I just can't stand the false hope that we've all been drilling into your skull. The longer you have false hope... the harder it will be to accept things when they fail."

Silence.

"I... think I know what you mean..."

Jazz nodded; a small smile gracing her lips. "I didn't think you'd say that." and with that, she scooped her little brother into a tight hug. Had he needed to breathe, Danny would be seriously struggling for breath. When Jazz finally let him go, she ruffled his snow-white hair, smiled, and left the room saying "Goodnight Danny." on the way out.

Danny looked at the clock; it was five in the morning. A glint of sunlight had appeared over in the horizon, casting a small amount of light over the town. He closed the curtains, then slipped under the covers of his bed, watching his own light waver on the ceiling. The motion lulled him to sleep, no less than a few minutes after he'd lay down.

But his dreams hadn't finished messing with him yet.

_Can you trust them...?_

_You can't trust them..._

_You can't trust Maddie..._

_You can't trust Jack..._

_You can't trust Sam or Tucker..._

_You can't trust Jazz..._

_You can't even trust yourself..._

_Listen._

_Listen for the voice..._

_The rational one... _

_You know what I mean..._

_The one that helps you think logically..._

_Or you will become obsolete._

Danny found himself waking up in hysterics, screaming "I DO NOT BELONG IN A MENTAL ASSYLUM!!!" to the heavens at the very top of his voice.

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: I'd like to thank Thunderstorm101 for this chapter, you gave me the idea to add it in. Might seem like a filler, but it will be crucial later on. It needs to be here, whether you liked it or not.

Kris: -looks at mental story plan- I hate to say it, but she's right. A filler that's needed, that just sounds ironic.

Moonlight: Meh. Anyway, I'd have liked it to be maybe 200 words longer to get to 1700, but I'd only be repeating myself, and everyone hates that. Even me, as a writer I HATE to have to re-write chapters. That's why the only plans I have are in my head. If I write them down as a brief overview, I tend to lose interest in writing the story, sadly. Plus, if I do it mentally, I get the chance to add extras, where as if I put the plan on paper, I tend to overlook them.

Kris: If you drabble on any longer, the Author's Note is going to be longer than the chapter.

Moonlight: Oops, sorry! Just a little pointless question for the reviewers; how do you write? Do you have a mental plan? Do you have a written plan? Or do you just write sparodically with no plan in mind at all? Just interested. XD

Peace,  
MoonlightUmbreon


	32. Explanation?

**Author's Note:**

Okay, here's chapter 31! Thank God I finished all the crucial homework. Interesting to hear that not many seem to write their plans out. Anyways, congrats to Luckygirl777 for striking review number 200 -gives cookie- Also, virtual cookies for everyone reading because I'm in such a good mood at the moment!

**Chapter 31: Explanation?**

Danny shook his head fiercely, repeating "It's all in my head, it's just a dream, it's just a dream," in a kind of mantra. Suddenly the door was literally smashed open by Maddie and Jack, immediately questioning him on what was wrong. They seemed fairly awake except for the large bags sagging under their eyes.

"Seriously guys, it's nothing! Just a nightmare; that's all!"

Maddie looked at her husband uncertainly, loosening her grip on a Fenton something-or-other. "Danny... how can we be sure? You used to open up to us, but now you seem so far away, so distant... I can tell when you're leaving details out, and right now, you're leaving details out..." her voice was somewhat-hurt, her eyes piercing into his. "Please," she added softly. "You need to tell us."

"It. Was. Nothing." Danny said, with a hint of anger and exasperation in his voice. "A nightmare's just a nightmare, no matter how _disturbing _it is. I'm fine."

"Oh well." Jack said, slightly annoyed. "Time for breakfast, Squeekie-Cheeks! I'm going to have some more of those waffles!" Both Danny and Maddie visibly paled at that, looked at each other fleetingly then shouting in objection. "What?" Jack asked. "What's wrong with the Fenton Waffles?"

"Jack, honey," Maddie started, looking at him seriously. "Last time we used the Fenton Ecto-Powered Waffle Iron, do you remember what happened?"

"Frankly, no." Jack said bluntly.

Maddie slapped herself on the forehead. "Jack, we all ended up in hospital with severe blood poisoning! We had not that long to live before they treated us all! And since then, it's probably got a bigger dose of ecto-radiation from all the times we took it down to the lab and pulled it to pieces. If we eat from that thing, we all might end up like Danny!"

Jack slouched unhappily, and looked about to protest. But Maddie was giving him 'The Glare', and no one dared to defy that. Anyone who did most probably wouldn't see the light of day again. Ever. The two left Danny's bedroom, but he could still hear them start to squabble over waffles about halfway down. How two people were so much different and yet, so much the same baffled Danny, and he decided not to think about it; it only made his head hurt. Danny looked through his wardrobe and pulled out another pair of jeans and a shirt of the same design. _Fenton, you idiot! You were meant to ask her yesterday!_

On the way downstairs, Danny passed Jazz, a cup of coffee in hand while yawning widely. That was a good point, how early was it, anyway?

Danny went straight to the loungeroom, flicking on the television which happened to show the news. He was about to change it, but then he saw it was another special report from Wisconsin.

_This is Tiffany Snow from Wisconsin, where Vlad Masters, 42 year-old billionare, has been reported missing. His mansion was searched late yesterday afternoon to make sure he wasn't just in there, however no trace of him was found, neither were travel plans or anything indicating he may have just left on holiday or such._

_No one is really sure how, when, where or why Masters suddenly dissapeared, however it was after the formation of his new company, Dalv. It is unknown on whether or not this has anything to do with his dissapearance, however forensic investigators are now testing his mansion to find out. There has been much public debate on whether this was the doing on the recently dubbed 'Wisconsin Ghost', and whether or not this has had anything to do with the other missing persons, mainly children._

_If you have any information on the whereabouts of Mr. Vlad M Masters, please call Crimestoppers immediately. Remember, you can remain anonymous and rewards are up to $3000 for any information leading up to the capture and/or rescue of any missing/suspicious people._

_This has been Tiffany Snow. Have a good morning Amity Park! I leave you with a picture of Vlad Masters._

A picture of a man with stark-white hair, which was tied back into a short ponytail appeared onscreen. He seemed to be smiling maliciously, but the photo was gone before Danny could take a proper look. Not really thinking much of the broadcast, Danny flicked the channel to see if there was anything worth watching. _Flick _Playschool. _Flick, _Teletubbies. _Flick, _News. _Flick, _CHANNEL UNDER MAINTANENCE. _Flick, _Ghost Hunters. He quickly turned the television set off and pulled the power cord out in fear of his parents _making _Jazz and himself sit down in front of it and watch it until it was finished, and probably for another five minutes to make sure there wasn't anything else ghost-related on. That's what had happened last time, the two siblings had been sat down in front of the television and forced to watch a documentary about a group of highly unsuccessful ghost hunters who only ended up making a fool of themselves.

Speaking of Ghost-related matters, Danny wondered what on earth his mother and father had been doing down in the lab all night. They've pulled all-nighters before, so it wasn't extremely unusual, but only when they had a major breakthrough or such. Danny, who couldn't be less bothered with stairs anymore, phased down into the lab beneath and looked around. The walls were covered in research papers and both Maddie, and surprisingly Jack, were pouring over them. Judging ny the bags under their eyes, Danny wondered on how they hadn't just dropped to the floor and slept like that.

"Guys, am I interupting anything?"

The second Jack ripped his attention from one of the papers, he fell to the ground and began snoring. Maddie merely stiffled a yawn and looked up at Danny. "We've been going all night."

"Really?!" Danny said, sarcasm dripping out of his voice. "Never would have thought that!"

Maddie looked at him unhappily. She didn't mind sarcasm, but her son used it a little too often. If it was a language, sometimes she'd wonder if it dominated him over English. _"Anyway_, you can cut the sarcasm, because we just had a major breakthrough on_ helping_ you."

"Really?" Danny asked, this time genuinely interested. "What is it? Has it got something to do with the blood sample you took from me? It better, you know how much I hate injections!"

"It does." Maddie replied going to a desk and pulling a small vile out, handing it up to Danny. "See anything in here?"

Danny took it, and looked at it carefully. It was just green, thick ectoplasm. But as he looked at it closer, he saw something drifting in the middle - something that confused him to no end. "There's blood in here." he stated, dropping the glass container in shock, Maddie diving and grabbing it.

"Bingo." she said. "And we were sort of skeptical at first, so we tested it to make sure it wasn't someone else's blood or something else red that might have gotten in there, but it's definetely yours. We've come to a conclusion, too."

"And what's that?"

"That... the shock didn't kill you." Maddie said slowly. "Not fully, anyways. What we think's happened is that when you got shocked by the portal, the ecto-purifier must have been too dense, and was released into the Ghost Zone while the portal started up. Of course, you were inside, so the ecto-purifier and some ectoplasm must have been attracted to your body like a magnet. Then it would have manifested itself. But then, there was the shock to concider as well. The shock should have killed you, but then the ectoplasm that had manifested inside you must have been able to protect that tiny little 0.2 percent of you, leaving you barely alive. But the other 99.8 percent of you is as good as dead, nothing else would be able to survive a shock like that. Something had to make up for the missing 99.8 percent, so just as when many humans die, your ghost-self was formed and took over. However, there was still that tiny 0.2 percent of you that was human, alive, and couldn't be taken over, so that's why you can still just taste, get slightly hungry after a_ long_ time and barely need any sleep at all. It's all very, very complicated."

Danny blinked. "So, you're saying, that just before I got shocked, some ectoplasm somehow got inside me, protected a tiny bit of me from the electric shock, then the dead 99.8 percent of me created my ghost self, right?"

"Yes, and I'm surprised you were able to follow that, too. It's also why you left behind no body, you're still technically in one. Well, 0.2 percent of one, anyway. The rest must have disintigrated."

"So... I suppose returning to normal is kind of outta the question, then..." Danny said lamely.

"No, it's not." Maddie said, surprising him greatly. "We're currently working on the blueprints for a machine that can revert a ghost's cells back to their original creator. You see, when someone dies, each individual cell in their body makes a new 'ghost' cell of itself, which instantly comes together with the other 'ghost' cells to make a ghost form. As a result, the ghost always looks the same as they did when they were alive. However, sometimes the human cells make more than one, which can result in abnormalities, such as there are some ghosts with pointed teeth, etcetera. They can also mess the colours up, which is how your hair became that colour. The eyes always end up becoming green or red too, it seems. Anyway, it may be possible to force the cells to revert to the form of their original creator, thus making a ghost completely human again. Glad to hear that?"

"Glad to hear it? I don't even understand it!" Danny replied, a crazy look in his eyes. "But by the tone in your voice, whatever the heck you're doing sounds like it's going to help, so how long's this thing going to take?"

Maddie sighed. "The blueprints will take a week to draw up. We have an idea on how the machine will do it, too, so that will help. Then a few days to order the parts, then it could take anywhere from another week to a month to build the machine. At the most, you'll probably be spending five weeks and a few days as a ghost. But when we revert you back to normal, you'll look as you originally did, sound like you originally did and lose the abilities that you have, which will completely stop all of the accidental phasing and invisibility that you're having problems with. How does that sound?"

"Good!" Danny said without thinking, but suddenly something she had said hit him.

_"... and lose the abilities you have,"_

He suddenly became extremely confused on the whole situation, on what he, himself wanted. "I'll be in my bedroom, okay?"

"Right." Maddie said, starting to attempt to awaken Jack, comletely oblivious to the war of decisions clashing inside Danny's head.

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: That was hard, and I'm aware that the explanation was probably hard to follow, too. For that, I'm sorry, but it was the only way to describe exactly what the Fenton parents think what happened in their basement. Nonetheless, this chapter probably answers a fair few questions that have popped up, the main one being _What is Danny?_

Kris: Yeah... -stiffles yawn- I'm so tired after helping you write that... -propmtly falls asleep in the same fashion as Jack-

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	33. Scientifically Impossible

**Author's Note:**

Time for another chapter! Hope you all enjoy it. Oh God, I'm battling myself not to tell you about what happens in the end. Oh yeah, you guys from America reading might want to know that here in Australia, the word Mom is spelt Mum, and that is, concequently, the way I spell it. The same thing goes for Color and Colour. So don't mistake them for spelling mistakes.

**Chapter 32: Scientifically Impossible**

Danny rose up into his room, where he promptly sat on his bed, his mind flying at a mile a second_. Jazz, I need Jazz... _"Jazz?" he found himself calling out. Never in his life, did he think he'd call on that future-shrink for psychiatary. But never in his life, did he think he'd end up in this kind of situation, either.

Jazz heard her brother's echoed yell. Putting her Psych essay down, she headed to Danny's room, to find him looking uncertainly into her eyes. "Yes?" she asked, only to have Danny grunt quietly. "Danny, what is it, I want to get my Psych essay done a month before it's due."

"I... think I need help, Jazz... I don't know what to do..."

Jazz's expression became sympathetic. She came over and sat next to him, looking at her brother through the eyes. "What do you need help with?"

"Mum and Dad... they found a way to revert me to normal..."

Without thinking, Jazz screamed. "Oh Danny, they did it! I'm so happy for you - huh?" she noticed the look of confusion and indicision on his face.

"I'm just not sure... ifIactuallywantthemtodoitornot." Danny said quickly. Jazz seemed to understand what he had said, however. All was silent for a moment, partly because she was thinking about what she should say, and partly because her brother looked ready to speak half of the time. After a few seconds, Jazz finally opened her mouth even though she was sure that she'd know the answer.

"Well... tell me why you're not sure, then."

"Because I'm not sure I want to give up some of my abilities..." Danny said guiltily. "It's like - like I'll regret whichever decision I make. If I decide to stay like this, I'll regret never being able to be normal again. If I decide to let my parents work their magic, then I'll regret losing my abilities... I don't know!"

"Danny..." Jazz started. "This must be really hard... Why don't you wait until the machine's built, and then decide if you want to go ahead with it...?"

"Yeah... I guess..."

"Time will tell, little brother." Jazz said, while ruffling his hair yet again. "You'll figure things out, and you'll do whatever you think's best, when the time comes."

Danny nodded and sighed. "Okay... It's just, right now I don't really know what I want."

"You'll be fine." Jazz reassured him. "Just take things one at a time as life throws them at you, and don't worry about them until they come." With that, Danny nodded, and Jazz stood up from the bed. "Anyway, maybe you should try ringing Sam. She might be allowed out of hospital at the moment."

"Hey yeah!" Danny said. "_How_did I forget _that?_"

As Jazz left the room, Danny checked the clock. _7:26?! Better ring her later. Mum was right, I don't need much sleep. _

The sun rose slowly that morning. Danny lay on his bed, trying to finish the third chapter of Lord of the Rings. After re-reading a single page no-less than three times, Maddie knocked on his bedroom door. "Danny, Mr. Lancer just called."

"What did he say?" Danny asked through his still-closed bedroom door.

"He says that he wants to talk to you."

"Why would he want to do that?"

"I don't know, just come down!"

Danny, forgetting to put something that could act like a bookmark in the book, closed it and deposited it back into his bag. Maddie opened the bedroom door suddenly. "Danny, come on! Mr. Lancer's waiting!" He quickened his pace, making his way down to the kitchen. He picked up the phone from where it was lying on the kitchen bench.

"Hi, Mr. Lancer...?"

"Hello Danny." Lancer replied. "It's good to hear from you, how are you?"

Danny was confused; it was as if his teacher was speaking to a friend rather than a student. "Umm... good? But is there something in particular you want?"

"Danny, I wanted to ask you, there are still things you're missing at school. Even though I won't get payed for overtime work, I think that there are still things you missed from last week that you need to learn. Are you willing to come over to my house as soon as possible so you're ready for the pop-quiz that Mr. Rihan has been planning all weekend? I've looked over it and it's not easy... I was just thinking that you might want some help."

"I, uhh... Wait, pop-quiz? Is he doing that just to catch me off-guard and give me another detention?" Danny asked, with no doubt at all that it was.

"Normally I wouldn't say something like this, but I do believe that is his motive." Lancer replied dryly. "I just want you to be a little more prepared; I'm afraid that the school board won't let me do too much if you get another detention."

"I guess so... But I was sorta planning to do something - wait, no I wasn't... It's just I'd really prefer to keep the schoolwork _at _school."

"I see..." Lancer replied, almost disappointingly. "Well, I suppose so. If you're alright with Mr. Rihan using this as an excuse to give you _another_detention, then -" he was cut off.

"Fine! But don't expect me to be all happy about it like Jazz!"

If the phone was some kind of video-phone, Danny thought he would see a satisfied smile on Lancer's face. "I wouldn't expect you to, the two of you are very different people."

"So... where do I go, anyway?"

"Come to 34 Avery Street, leading off Scenic Road. Do you know where that is?"

"Yeah." Danny replied. "It's on the outskirts of Amity."

"Good, then I'll see you soon, then."

"Mmhm." Danny replied as he hung up. "Mum?! Mr. Lancer wants me to go to his place for extra tutoring!" he yelled out to Maddie.

"Alright, but I'm sorry, you're father and I can't take you!" came a yell from down in the basement. "We're busy - see if Jazz can!"

Frowning, Danny headed up to his sister's bedroom and phased through the door without a second thought. "Jazz, I need you to drive me to Mr. Lancer's for tutoring, mum and dad can't." Jazz turned to him for a second, thinking.

"Avery Street's not too far from here, maybe you could just walk? It can't be more than a few blocks..."

"_Jazz!_" he reminded her. "You _know _why I can't walk!"

"Danny, I think you should though. You're just going to have to tough it out there; you did it through school. And what's saying you can't become invisible and walk there quickly?"

"But _Jazz..._" Danny whined. "What happens if I accidentally reappear?"

"Danny, I know it's hard, but sometimes during the next five weeks you're going to have to do things like this. Now go, I'm sure you'll be fine. You walked home all the way from the hospital, remember?"

"Fine." Danny replied bitterly.

He went downstairs and walked through the front door, becoming inisible as he began to walk to Mr. Lancer's. The walk was uneventful, except when he didn't see a car coming through a driveway and became intangible at the very last second to avoid being hit. Eventually, he knocked on Mr. Lancer's door. "Hello? Mr. Lancer? Are you there?" Lancer opened the door, then looked around in confusion. "Oh, right." Danny said as he realized he was still invisible. How he forgot that, he didn't know. It was scary to think he'd become so used to things like this that he'd forget when he was doing them. Lancer flinched, but then beckoned him inside.

"Now Danny, There's some science experiments set up for you. How does that sound?"

"Not so bad." Danny remarked, looking into a room that looked just like a miniature science room for one. "Uh, why do you have this in your house?"

"My housemate is a scientist; she needs it. And she's sportingly agreed to teach you, concidering science isn't my thing."

"Um, just so I know, did you warn her about me?" Lancer fell silent. "So... I'm guessing_not?_" Danny said as more of a statement than a question.

"Look, I'll go and get her from upstairs, and I'll tell her, okay? Don't touch anything until we get back." Danny nodded as Mr. Lancer disappeared through the doorway, closing the door behind himself, and headed upstairs. Danny took a seat, worrying about what a scientist other than Maddie or Jack Fenton would think of something that's technically and physically impossible when it was staring them in the face.

--

Mr. Lancer knocked on the bedroom door of his housemate. "Jenny, are you there?"

"Yah, I'm coming, he's here is he?" she replied as she opened the door. Her hair was quite a deep shade for natural red and her eyes were dark blue in colour. "What's his name, anyway?"

"Danny, his name's Danny. But, I might want to warn you before you go down - he's... _different._"

"No matter, I can handle trouble-makers." Jenny replied, unfazed by Lancer's emphasis on the word 'different'. "It won't be a problem."

"No, I don't mean it in that way!" Lancer said quickly as she started to descend down the stairs. "I mean... physically different."

Janny shrugged. "I can handle disfigurement. I spent part of my uni course studdying how babies have growth mutations and such." Lancer sighed; this would be hard to explain.

"No, I didn't mean Danny's like that. He's looks the same but he's not like anything you've have seen before!"

"Look, whatever you're trying to clue at and encrypt at the same time, _I can handle it._"

"Fine, but just remember, please treat him like anyone else, he's become fairly shy about it and really, I can't blame him."

"Okay, okay. Just tell me what's wrong with him exactly then, you know I hate it when you clue like this!"

"It's probably not in my position to say anything..." Lancer replied. "You'd have to ask him yourself and that's still his decision on whether or not he tells you anything."

--

The door reoppened to reveal Mr. Lancer and the scientist. Danny was surprised that that deep shade of red could actually look real, even though it did. She looked at him, mouth slightly open. "God, you weren't kidding." she remarked, turning to Lancer. "He is different..."

Danny looked up at the two, saying nothing for a few moments. Then finally asked "What's your name?" in an echoed voice. She cringed slightly, checking behind herself to make sure the noise hadn't came from back there, then replied. "My... my name is Jenny Tyler. Please, just call me Jenny, though."

"Look, I'll leave the two of you to get on with things." Mr. Lancer said, before handing Danny a pen, then shutting the door as he left the room. Jenny looked at Danny carefully for a few minutes, and he got the awkward feeling that he was being examined.

"I... don't mean to be rude or anything, and whether you tell me is entirely up to you, but... _what_are you?"

"You really want me to tell you...?" Danny asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "And whatever I say won't make you act any wieder around me than you already are?"

"I - no, it won't make me act like that."

"Even if what I say will probably make you think I'm lying?"

"I don't think that I'm in a position to rule out anything..." Jenny replied. "But look, if you don't want to say anything, that's okay, too."

"Okay." Danny said. "Just one thing, I uhh... drop things pretty easily without meaning to." right on cue, the pen dropped straight through his now-transparent hand. "Like _that._"

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Heh, kind of ironic how I hate my English homework and love writing fanfiction.

Kris: Speaking of which, you've got two hours to do it in you idiot! -hits Moonlight-

Moonlight: Oh my God, I forgot! -screams- Darned homework! Bad Homework!

Homework: -looks innocent-

Moonlight: Yeah, that's what _you_want people to think! Anyway, this time I want you to tell me which was your favorite chapter. Just wondering, heh. If you can't remember what exactly they were all about, then I understand.

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	34. Pure Chaos

**Author's Note:**

Another day, another chapter! Do enjoy! Anyone who's been waiting for a bit of action's going to _love _this.

**Chapter 33: Pure Chaos**

"Oh. My. God."

"I don't do it intentionly!" Danny said in defense. "Just... try not to think about it." Jenny blinked, mouth hanging slightly open. It seemed as if her deep blue eyes where scanning him quickly, pausing, then going over him again, a little slower each time.

"Okay... that was just... _weird!_ You can't just go in and out of phase like that; it's not scientifically possible!"

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know why it happens, it just... does?" the statement came out as more of a question - not what he'd been hoping for. "Look, I know it's strange, but I can't help it. And I've been through this before; people just stare and then completely freak out_. Like Paullina_..." he added bitterly to himself.

Casting another glance at Danny, Jenny made a kind of grunting noise that made it seem like she had tried to say something, but stiffled it at the last moment. She only became confused further after a wisp of misty-blue breath escaped his mouth. Danny groaned, resting his head on his arms and asking himself, "Why me? Why _now?_" what he meant by this, Janny didn't know. However, there was a feeling in her gut telling her that she wasn't going to like it.

Danny stood up and looked around swiftly, alert and ready, for whatever might come at him. There was a difference this time; if he failed, his parents weren't around for backup. For some reason, he felt like the presence was eminating from somewhere... upstairs? "Oh no... Mr. Lancer!" he yelled, as he heard the inevitable shriek from above. "Look, I'm really sorry about this and what it might do to your mental health afterwards." Danny said to Jenny, who's expression had gone from confusion to just plain shock in a matter of a few seconds.

Danny bent his knees down, then sprang upwards, phasing through the roof. How Jenny would react after this, he had no idea. Upstairs, in a spare, completely empty bedroom, Lancer had found himself a corner, where he was currently shrinking into as a large ghost _crab _(of all things) approached him, freakishly-large pincers snapping angrily. And boy, did they ever look sharp. Apart from the spectral glow, it looked fairly normal. That is, if one ignored the size, however.

The ghost crab immediately noticed the room's new occupant's presence, turning and diving at Danny, pincers raised. Becoming intangible just in time to avoid the attack, Danny got behind the creature and grabbed onto the pincer, which snapped off, just like that, without a great amount of resistance. While the crab was trying to figure out inside it's tiny brain what had just happened, Danny tossed the pincer over to Lancer. Finally detecting what had happened, the crab seemed to rear up, and make a strange guteral sound in the back of it's throat.

"Defend yourself!!" Danny yelled over the noise of the crab, diving through the air to avoid another lunge. Lancer gingerly grabbed the oversized and unusual weapon, and continued to shrink into his corner. With what could only be described as luck, Danny managed to snap off the second pincer just as the door was opened by Jenny at one of the worst times. The crab, now pincerless, approached her. Mad, red eyes scanned her body, looking murderous and ready to attack at any moment. Danny tossed the remaining broken pincer over to her, which she caught and hit the ghost with instinctively.

Now that the crab didn't really have any means of attack, Danny flew at it, grabbed it by one (arm?) and dragged it backwards and away from his science tutor. However, despite the illusion that he might actually be beating this monster, something that horrified all three began to happen. At the points where the old pincers had been broken off, green ectoplasm began to bubble like boiling hot water in a saucepan. It quickly took form of two new pincers, solidifying and turning a sickening bright green, a fair bit bigger than the last pair.

"Aww, _crud!_ " Danny exclaimed. _Wait, the Fenton Child-Safe Ghost Security Chips! _he remembered, pressing down on a tiny button on his sleeve. It made a tiny beep, signalling that his parents would be there any minute. But for now, Danny would have to hold this _monster _off by himself. He tried to steer it away from Mr. Lancer and Jenny, dodging and phasing through attacks right, left and center. A loud _**crack **_was heard as one of the crab's pincers smashed through the wall, showing Lancer's bedroom.

"To Kill a Mockingbird!! My wall!" Lancer yelled, looking at the crumbled and completely destroyed area before him. Danny, distracted, saw from the corner of his eye a pincer flying at him, attempting to grip him around his waist. Danny's world went in slow motion as he saw the razor-sharp pincer close in, but to his complete and utter surprise, his waistline just seemed to melt away, leaving nothing joining his higher and lower half joined together. Danny darted through the air, moving away from the horrifying apendage so he could reconnect himself. Where were his parents, usually they got to the site of trouble in record time!

--

"Jack, it's the Fenton Child-Safe Ghost Security Chip Alarm! Danny's in trouble!" Maddie said, pointing up at the red glowing light.

"Mads, you're right! It must be a ghost! Go, go, _go!!!_ Don't worry son! Jack Fenton's on his way!"

The two Fenton parents burst out of the front door, chucked everything relevant to ghosts that they could find in the 'RV', then drove as quickly as they could towards where the signal was coming from. As they pulled up beside Mr. Lancer's house, screams, shouts and horrible thuds were heard from inside.

"Something bad's going on, and our baby's in there!" Maddie said, her fear apparent in her voice. "Jack," she murmered "Let's go, quick."

--

Danny was currently hanging on to the back of the crab in a death-grip, just out of reach of the pincers. Luckily, it seemed to destract it enough from going to attack anything else in the room. Namely Lancer and Jenny, and the walls for that matter, too.

The spare room's door burst open to reveal Maddie and Jack, the former armed with the now phase-proof Fenton Grapler, the later armed with the Fenton Fisher. "How dare you attack my son, you putrid entity of protoplasm!!" Maddie said in a fuming rage, looking as though she was about to spit fire and venom. The Fenton Grapler was fired, incasing the oversized crab in a green, glowing net. Danny had just flown out of the way in time, watching as the monster struggled to cut and phase through the ropes, snapping it's two deadly apendages.

"You got it squeekie-cheeks!" Jack yelled with pleaure, hugging his wife with a bone-crushing grip.

"Jack... need... air!" she gasped. Her husband put her down, with a sheepish grin on his face. Maddie just smiled weakly, trying to catch some breath.

"_Now that_, was close..." Danny said, looking at the crab; which had thankfully given up on breaking through it's net-like prison. "It's good you guys got here... I thought... thought we were done for..."

Looking up at Danny where he was drifting in middair, a confused voice came. "What... what _are_ you?" it was Jenny. "And what the hell is that?!" she said, pointing over to the now, apparently sleeping ghost crab. It was around her height, and fairly wide, for that matter, too.

"It's a ghost." Maddie said, approaching the scientist and patting her back. "Don't go anywhere near it; if it suddenly gets restless, there's a slim chance it'll break through the phase-proof netting." seeing her worried look, Maddie shook her head and smiled reassuringly. "But we should be fine."

"A - and Danny's your son...?" she said, still stuttering. "What - what is he?"

With a slightly dark look, Maddie looked at Jenny, then up at Danny. "He's... _sort of _a ghost."

With a slightly crazed look, Jenny replied. "What do you mean, '_sort of _a ghost'?"

"It's complicated." Maddie said simply. Danny lowered himself to the floor, walking up to the pair. Lancer and Jack followed suit.

"Well... at least it explains things a little." Danny said. "It's not that bad."

"It's not real." Jenny murmered, falling to her knees. "It's just not real!"

"I'm afraid it is." Lancer said. "It's as real as you or me and anything else in this room."

"No it's not." she replied, clutching her skull. "It's my head, it's my head, oh God, I think I've got skitzofrenia!"

"You're not skitzofrenic." Danny said calmly, holding out his hand. "Here." gingerly, she took it and Danny pulled her to her feet.

"You're freezing!" she said, jerking quickly away. Danny just shrugged.

"Anyway... how are we going to get this thing out of here? It's too dangerous to get close and we can't just leave it in the middle of Mr. Lancer's apartment... _Can we_?" that little bit on the end was worth it to see Lancer's reaction; his eyes were wider than saucers and mouth was hanging slightly open. He was about to retort, but Danny put his hand up, signalling him to stop. "I'm only kidding!"

"Look, I've been working on something..." Maddie started. "Uhh... secretly... I think it might help, it's the prototype Fenton Bazooka. It can rip a hole in our dimension and suck ghosts back into the Ghost Zone. If I could go back and get it, we can get rid of this thing, pronto."

"That's... not a bad idea." Mr. Lancer agreed.

"Anyway... I think I'll take the RV home and get it, ...Jenny, isn't it? You can come with me away from this craziness, I can understand why you're a little weak kneed. Danny, you stay here and guard the crab. Jack, you do the same. Mr. Lancer, stay here. If that crab breakes loose, Danny and Jack will need all the help that they can get."

After everyone agreed, (especially Jenny, who was exceptionally glad to get out of the place) they parted. Danny looked out of the window and saw the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle drive off down the street. He began to drift into the air absent-mindedly, turning to face the crab. It looked at him; staring with blood-red eyes. Ones that pierced into his very being, making his stomach turn with fear. Why it was the eyes and not the pincers that did this, nobody knew. But, it was rather concerning.

"Wow... I feel like fudge!" Jack remarked randomly. Danny looked at him, lowering an eyebrow.

"How can you feel like fudge when that's right there?!"

"I always feel like fudge!" he remarked heartily.

Mr. Lancer smiled. "After all that, I think we all deserve some fudge. I do believe there's some in the fridge, would you two like some?" Jack was practicly in ecstasy, bouncing around like an overgrown puppy. Danny thought for a moment. Come to think of it, he _did _want some fudge; it seemed now to have an affect on him like nothing else could.

"Yeah, I'll have some too." Danny agreed, a small smile escaped his lips as he hovered just a foot above the ground. Mr. Lancer, with one last fleeting look at the monster, went out of the door and headed downstairs, leaving Jack and Danny alone.

"I'm so proud of you son! You're a true Fenton, fighting like that! Give me your hand!" Danny hesitantly extended his hand, finding it grabbed and shook so hard that it caused him to jerk in middair. The thing was, Jack didn't seem to stop shaking. Danny, who was sick of playing rag-doll, phased his hand out of his dad's grip.

"Thanks dad, but I'd _really _appreciate it if I still had a hand at the end of all this."

Jack just smiled warmly, and when the door opened to reveal Lancer carrying a tray with three bowls of fudge settled on top. He eyed the crab nervously once more, then handed out the bowls. Danny went and sat with his back against the wall, crossed his legs and began to eat the fudge, an unexplainable warm, happy feeling overcoming him again.

**Author's Note:**

Kris: Moonlight, I'm tired...

Moonlight: I know what you mean; It's either been homework or fanfiction for the last two days... -yawn- Hope you enjoyed the chapter; you're lucky I didn't go to bed earlier in favour of posting this...

Kris: -yawns in unison- G'night everyone...

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	35. As the Sunlight Glints Over the Hills

**Author's Note:**

Kris: Moonlight is being lazy at the moment and doesn't feel like leaving an Author's Note. Thanks to all of you reiewers! XD

**Chapter 34: As the Sunlight Glints Over the Hills**

Danny scraped the last of the fudge off of the bowl with his spoon, savoring that one last mouthful. He put the bowl down beside him, inwardly sighing in disappointment as the warm feeling seeped away. Jack was blathering on about ghosts to Mr. Lancer, who was looking half interested and half asleep. It was a difficult expression to describe; how one could be interested and yet thoroughly bored on the one topic just seemed ironic. And yet, here was Lancer, doing just that.

Danny glanced at the crab. It's eyes were open and glaring at him, _piercing _him yet again. Shuddering, he moved over to where Mr. Lancer and Jack were standing and listened in on the one-sided conversation. "..all ghosts are almost fully composed of a substance known as ectoplasm. The rest is consciousness, and sometimes other things from here and there, but that's not common. And then there's an interesting thing about chocolate that we found out a few days ago, we don't really know why, but it puts ghosts in a state of euphoria." Jack paused to take the last spoonful of fudge. "I think I know why..."

Danny rolled his eyes, that was a constant; his father would always, _always _be obsessed with ghosts and fudge. Lots and lots of fudge.

The door opened to reveal Maddie, holding a huge silver and green Fenton product. Behind her, looking fearfully at the crab and the massive oversized gun.

"Danny, this thing's untested. It only sucks in ghosts, so none of us will be affected. Honey, you'll have to wait in the RV." Danny nodded in agreement, waving to Mr. Lancer and Jenny. Then he approached a wall and phased through it. Once outside, he quickly dived and phased himself into the RV before anyone noticed.

He waited for a minute, then noticed a letter on the back seat. It was addressed to him, with no stamp or anything of the kind. Curious, he leaned over and grabbed it, opening it up to read the content.

_Danny,_

_Can you trust them?_

_How do you know that you can trust them? _

_They don't understand you._

_They're not ghosts like you are._

_They're ordinary humans who couldn't have a hope in the world of understanding you._

_And if they don't understand you, how can you trust them?_

_You can never be accepted by those who love you._

_Let go... You know you can't trust them..._

_Trust me._

Danny tore the letter in two. Then into four, then continuously until it was in complete shreds. "Brainwasher..." he murmered, as he stuffed the torn paper into his pocket.

_Oh, really Danny? You think I'm a brainwasher? That's a little harsh, don't you think?_

That voice, how much he had grown to loathe it. It wasn't remotely his, it was something hacking into his head. And he was sick of it; sick of feeling so fearful of this stupid voice...

_Get the hell outta my head!! _Danny thought furiously. _Why do you do this to me?!_

_Oh dear, you do have one temper there._

_You'd have one too if I was doing this to you!!_

_Would I, Danny? I would be counting my blessings, if I were you._

_SHUT UP!_

_Dear boy, you do need to calm down. Here, let me help you..._

With a soft thud, Danny's head fell onto the car seat. He was out cold.

--

The world was a blur. Every time he moved his head, the images would shift their fuzzy shapes in a whirl of colour. Danny slowly sat up, blinking a few times and rubbing his aching head. What was going on? As the world started to come back into focus, he noticed he was in his bed. That wasn't the only thing; it was dark. The curtains were drawn and the lights were out. He glanced over at the clock.

5:49 AM

That meant he'd been out all day and almost right through the night. Getting up slowly, Danny looked outside the curtains. The first rays of sunlight for the day were glinting through, casting a small amount of light into the dark bedroom. There was no way he could trust himself with falling asleep and waking up in time for school now. Danny made his way to his wardrobe and opened it, seeing something that hadn't been there before; a black shirt. It had white rings around the colar and the ends of the sleeves, reminding him of his inverted jumpsuit. Attatched was a post it note, he turned on the bedroom light to read it.

_Dear Danny,_

_Last time you fainted like this you were out for a very long time; so I'm not sure you'll wake up until we're all long asleep. I thought you deserved something after everything you've been through, so I decided to go out and buy this shirt. I'm fairly sure it's your size, and it goes well with your hair. I don't know why you won't wear that jumpsuit though, it happens to be incredibly stylish. Never mind, I hope you like it._

_Mum_

"Thanks mum!" Danny said to himself as he pulled it off the hanger, changing into it. When he got down to the dining room, Jazz was reading yet another psychology book. She looked up from it and smiled broadly.

"Danny, you're awake! You were just lying there in the car and we got so worried!"

"Yeah, well I'm fine now." Danny replied, putting his hands up before his sister smothered him in a hug. "What are you doing up this hour, anyway?" 

"Oh, nothing. Just some light reading, you know. You know, that shirt looks pretty good on you."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, thanks. The white and red ones were getting a little short anyway."

He then proceded to the kitchen, where he looked into the cupboards. "Hey Jazz, do you know where mum keeps the hot chocolate? You have it every morning."

"No, that's coffee." Jazz called back. "Mum and dad shared the last of the hot chocolate while you were out of it."

"Oh..." Danny replied dissapointedly, heading back to the stairs to where the bathroom was. "Well anyway, could you drive me to school?" Jazz nodded, and Danny continued up the stairs to the bathroom. As he staired at his reflection, he noticed his eyes were blue. The moment he blinked, they returned to normal.

_Huh. Must be the remnant of my human side... _he thought, now staring into an emerald green, glowing pair. However minute it was, it was somewhat comforting to know that some small part of his original self was still there, hiding away. He grabbed for his toothbrush and began to scrub his teeth absent-mindedly, the minty toothpaste's taste standing out much more than anything else had. After taking a much-needed shower, Danny grabbed his schoolbag from his room and realized he hadn't read the third chapter of Lord of the Rings yet. Well, at least Lancer was fair. As for Rihan, that might be a different story altogether. Because rather 'unfortunate circumstances' had come up, there would be no way that he could pass that quiz. He'd get another detention for an abysmal score, then probably another for dropping lab equipment_. Great._

It was now only 6:15. Danny thought for a moment; it was so early that barely anyone would be up, except those rushing to work. It was still partially dark, and if he got there early, he could just take a peak at the answers to that science test and avoid another detention. It wasn't cheating, it was payback and self-defense! And when he was there, he could make sure that he got just a few wrong to make it look real.

So he told his sister he'd walk. Well, that's what he said; he actually flew. But something told him that she knew that. It didn't really matter _how _he got there anyway. He looked down at the streets from above, reaching the school relatively quickly. Danny became invisible as he landed on the front steps. He phased himself inside, and immediately went to Rihan's science room. He was sitting at his desk, writing something down. Danny went over next to him and took a look at what he was exacly doing. As he got closer, Rihan blinked and put his pen down. "...Bit brisk..." he said to himself, wrapping the jacket that was draped over his seat around himself.

Danny saw he was writing in a journal in small, loopy letters. Danny looked away_. Apart from not wanting to know, I'm not going to stoop to the level of reading someone's diary_. he thought, frowning. He looked over the desk, not seeing anything along the lines of test answers, unfortunately. Inwardly sighing, he left the room through the air, so as not to make any sound. As he did, he heard Rihan mutter something from behind him. "...It's a little warmer now... Wonder what that was all about..."

Danny looked around the deserted hallway. Well, he was here now, so he might as well stay. As he walked down the hall, still invisible, he looked into Lancer's classroom, to find him sitting at his desk. He was punching some things into a calculator and mumbling to himself incoherently. Danny walked in and reappeared quite suddenly, causing the man before him to jump up and stare.

"James Herriot! Danny, please don't do that!"

"Sorry," Danny replied, shifting his wait between his feet. "I just didn't want to be spotted."

"You do know that at this time of morning it is highly unlikely that anyone will spot you." Lancer said dryly. "Anyways... how are you feeling? When we all looked inside the RV you were sprawled out in a fairly awkward position."

"Fine, now."

"Good. Now what brings you here this early, Mr. Fenton? I was under the impression that you were a fairly deep sleeper."

Danny just shrugged. "I woke up early and didn't trust myself enough to go back to bed. So I decided to avoid the bus or the road and come here before anyone else was awake."

"Fair enough. I've always thought that the earlieryou get up, the sooner your mind will be awake and ready to learn. how did you get here, by the way? Did your sister drive you? It's a little far from FentonWorks to here to be walking."

"I, um..." Danny said awkwardly. "Got up really, really early and trekked it here?"

"Something tells me that's not the answer." Mr. Lancer said, mainly to himself. Then it seemed that he realized something, and he changed the subject completely. "What are you planning to do here? It's at the ery least another two hours before school starts." Lancer paused for a moment. "Did you get to finish the first three chapters of The Lord of the Rings?"

"I - no." Danny replied. "I was out cold for the rest of Sunday."

"Well then, take a seat. You can read whatever you have left because you came in so early."

Danny shrugged and sat down at a desk, pulling the book out of his bag and opening it, as he leaned back dangerously on his chair. This would be a very long morning; he could only hope that Sam showed up. Tucker would inevitably still be home sick.

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Another extremely late night update. -yawn-

Kris: Yah, you got that right. Can we for once, go to a bed at an hour that doesn't end in AM?

Moonlight: Probably not. ANYWAY next chapter we get to see more of Rihan!!! We all love to hate that guy... well, I think, anyway. Please Review!! Especially if you have some constructive criticism, I used to find it a little tough to handle but now I really love it. XD

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	36. Figure it out for Yourself

**Author's Note:**

Oh God, am I ever sorry. I said I'd take a little break, not a long break. But then my laptop charger decided to play up and I had to wait a full three weeks to order a new one. Ugh, that is so irritating! Please, forgive me. Here's a chapter, I'll be happy if it makes up just a quarter for what happened.

**Chapter 35: Figure it out for Yourself**

Upon finishing the third chapter and the final bell ringing, Danny had arrived at art. Both Sam (with an eye-patch) and Tucker (coughing non-stop) sitting mercifully beside him.

"Ugh, I still feel terrible…" Tucker murmured through the teacher's usual pre-painting lecture. "I only came because mum threatened to delete the startup files on my computer if I didn't."

Sam was trying to conceal a smirk as Tucker glared at her. Danny, however, was staring blankly off into space, blind to the world.

"Uhh, Danny?" Tucker asked through a blocked nose. "You okay?"

"What?" Danny asked as he came to. "Fine, just daydreaming I guess."

"Mr. Fenton," started a frowning Mrs. Campbell in her country-accented voice. "I hate to break up you and your friends' conversation, but I can hear your voice from the other side of the room! Whatever it is, can it please wait until work has started?"

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't be sorry; just don't let it happen again." Danny nodded in reply as she continued her lecture on some of the bazaar artworks of Kandinsky. The trio listened to her drone on until it was finally time to paint. Today's topic was 'Something that changed your life'.

"When I became a vegetarian." Sam said to herself. Tucker stared as her for a minute as though she was mentally unstable.

"For me, it was the day my grandfather died. People mourn in different ways; my parents popped open a bottle of champagne." After earning confused looks from both Sam and Danny, he added "He was a real pain. He kept saying that meat was for the ignorant and selfish." Sam abruptly hit Tucker over the head.

Danny paused for a moment. "There's only one thing I can think of."

Sam looked as him, and then shook her head. "Don't pick that. You'll only raise bad memories to the surface."

"I can't pick anything else, there's nothing to pick from! Besides… I think… I'm over it."

"Over it?!" Tucker exclaimed in exasperation. "Like, how can you be _over it?!_"

"I don't know, it just seems… kind of distant now… I can't explain it."

"Danny, you're like a puzzle with most of the pieces missing." Sam replied. "A mystery."

_You know you can't trust them._

_Why do you make it so hard for yourself?_

"SHUT UP!" Danny screamed, before falling from his art stool and on a one way trip to the floor.

--

"Huh…?"

Everything was white and blurry. Danny blinked a few times before realizing that he was in the nurses' office.

"Oh, you're finally awake! You were out for three-quarters of an hour!"

"Wh-what?"

Danny finally completely came to and realized it was Ms. Dipit speaking to him. There was no one else in the room.

"You're awake." She repeated. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I shouldn't trust you." Danny responded automatically. "Huh…? What the heck?"

The nurse stared at him for a moment. "I could ask the same of you, you know."

"Sorry, I guess I just must be a little dazed still…"

"I see… Anyway, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." Danny nodded in agreement slowly as he stood up from the small bed he'd lain down on. "Okay, do you have any idea why you fainted? At all?"

"Umm… no." Danny lied. "Maybe the room was just too humid."

"Right, and have you eaten today and kept your fluids up? Did you get eight hours of sleep last night?"

"Umm," Danny said, trying to think. "No, I didn't get any of those today. You know, it's probably that."

"Well, now you know why you should do those things, hm? Now before you go, I'd like to do a few checkups. You're overdue, they should have been done last week, but of course, you weren't here."

"Oh, really I should go to class, I'm missing out on science. If I'm late, Mr. Rihan will have my head."

"Mr. Fenton, you're already late, so this won't hurt. Hop on the scales, we're measuring your weight first."

Danny shot her a 'please' look, then sighed depressingly and stepped on top of the scales.

0.00kg

Ms. Dipit looked oddly at the scales for a moment. "That can't be right, stupid thing must be broken." Danny stepped of as the nurse put one foot on it testingly. The reading became 16.79kg. "Okay, that's just strange."

Ms. Dipit suddenly turned and lifted Danny into the air. "Oh good lord… That's not possible!" he just shrugged and grinned sheepishly.

"Uh, I'd have no idea?"

"Of course you have an idea; it'd be a bit hard to miss if you're _weightless!!_"

"Okay, fine!" Danny said defensively, putting his hands up in front of him. "But please, if I don't get to class _now,_ Rihan _will _have my head! I might as well be handing it to him on a silver platter!"

Eyeing him strangely, Ms. Dipit let go of him and put him on the floor. "Fine. Between you and me, I know how much of a pain that man can be. However, I can't just stand by, wondering what's going on like most other times. Fenton, what are you?"

Danny bit down on his lip. "You're not going to let me go until you get an answer, are you?" she firmly shook her head. "Fine, I'm a ghost."

Ms. Dipit obliviously dropped the pen she had been holding. Danny sighed as he sat down on a chair. "Why does everyone react like that?"

"Oh, I uh… it's just that-"

"Don't worry about it." Danny cut her off. "Could you please not breathe a word of it and let me go before Rihan spits fire?"

"Ye-yes, go quickly." He didn't need to be told twice. Danny bolted down the corridor, thanking the lord that he, Tucker and Sam decided to tell each other's locker combinations. Making sure no one was around, Danny phased his arm inside his locker and felt around for the things he'd need. He quickly found his pencil case and science folder, and then dashed to Rihan's class."

"Fenton, you're twenty minutes late! I'd have the right mind to give you another detention had Lancer and Ishiyama not given me a warning about 'so-called' fairness! Now go and get your spectral backside on the seat next to Ms. Sanchez _right this instant!_"

"Sir yes sir!" Danny said, giving an army salute. A few people cracked a smile at Danny's sudden cheekiness to Rihan, of all people.

"_THIS INSTANT!"_ Rihan roared. Danny flinched even though he knew that would be the most likely answer. But he couldn't help it, it seemed as though Mr. Lancer and Principle Ishiyama had blocked Rihan from giving him unfair detentions. It was almost too good to be true. Almost.

Paullina looked at Danny and moved her chair slightly to the opposite side. Danny's heart sank just a little, but then remembered what she had done last Friday, and found that he didn't care much anymore.

Rihan was doing a lecture today, and they were taking notes. It was about Epilepsy and how people have seizures and such. Nothing too exciting. Danny just hoped he'd missed the surprise pop-quiz already. After twenty minutes of solid note-taking, his hand finally gave in and became intangible, refusing to go back to normal.

Danny found himself doing a pop-quiz left-handed that he had no idea on.

…and he failed miserably.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Rihan decided to rub it in his nose and got out an extra-thick red paint-pen, slashing a bold letter F over Danny's work. Underneath it had written in overly-neat join-up: _Sloppy handwriting, poor, incomplete and incorrect answers. (2/20)_

Danny groaned and began to pack his things up. This was just plain mean. Then again, half of it was probably part of the being late part and the army salute. The other was obviously pure hatred and a genuinely poor test result.

"Hey, lighten up. It is Rihan, after all. He's about as nice as a pro-wrestler with a grudge." came Kiera's voice from behind him. "Why did you come in late, anyway?"

"Oh, that. I was feeling a bit sick and had to go to the nurse. That's all…"

Kiera nodded. Her eyes seemed unfocused and glazed over, her face looking as though she wanted to say something but couldn't. "Kiera, are you alright…?"

"Um… Danny…' quickly she checked the corridor to see that no one else was within earshot. "I think I know what you are." she whispered. "It all adds up, the intangibility, the invisibility and your other… _quirks._ In the library on Friday you even let it slip when you said you wished you didn't have to deal with your ghost powers. Danny… I think you're a ghost, and please tell me if I'm wrong, but that's what I truly think."

"You're… right." Danny replied. "It's probably only a matter of time before the whole school knows what I am, though. The jocks do, and they'd hardly keep it a secret. I'd say I'd have until at the very most, until tomorrow before everyone knows."

Sam, Jazz and Tucker came up behind them. "Hey, quit dawdling. I might like to eat, thank-you very much." Sam said, before grinning. "Only kidding. C'mon, let's go and get a table outside."

The five agreed, however Kiera ran off to get a snack first, promising to find them. After a bit of searching, they found a free spot under the shade from the sun. They began to talk, drifting as far away from Danny's touchy subject as possible. That was, until Dash and his 'cronies' came around.

"Hey everyone, come over here! We know something about Fenton that barely anyone else knows!"

There was no other word for it, "Crud!" Danny said as he slammed his head on the table. People began to gather around the table, as Dash was a highly-respected person. Okay, feared, but you get the point.

"Danny Fenton's a ghost! Look! He probably committed suicide because he had such a miserable social status!"

At first, people looked at Dash as though he were mad. But then, they started to see why he was being called a ghost. Kiera had already come running to see what the commotion was all about. They remained silent, until Mikey spoke up. "Danny, are you really-"

"Yes." He replied depressingly. "And, for God's sake, I didn't commit suicide. It was an accident."

"Then… can you tell us what really happened in your parent's lab?"

"No." Danny replied bluntly. There was a disappointed groan from the crowd. "Look, I'm sorry, but I really don't remember…"

"Oh but…"

"Back off from the little brother!" Jazz said, shooting up from her seat. "You've asked your questions, now go! Can't you see why it'd be hard for him to talk about it? Put yourself in his shoes!"

Mr. Lancer came pushing through the crowd. "A Time to Kill, people! What's going on here?!"

"Danny's a ghost!" Mikey squeaked, slightly nervous of the bigger man. "Dash yelled it out to everyone!"

"And yet he's still a real person with real feelings and you lot are surely not helping! Now leave him and his friends alone and give them some privacy!" People groaned loudly and started to move, very, very slowly. "Now, people! None of us have all day!"

Everyone finally moved out, with the exception of Kiera, who came and sat down at the wooden table.

"Thanks for that." said a very grateful Danny.

"It was my pleasure, Danny. At least now that they know, it may persuade them to lose interest."

Sam bit her lip as she saw someone peering through the bushes. "Or increase it."

_-End chapter 31-_

**Author's Note:**

There, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It's great to be back and writing again. And, rejoice, for I now have SPELL-CHECK! Yay for spell-check! So many are probably mumbling 'about time'. So no more stupid tiny overlooked mistakes!

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon & Kris


	37. HotHeaded

**Author's Note:**

And here it is! –drum roll- Chapter 36! Hope you all appreciate it. This one's for all the Valerie lovers out there! She's finally taking a part! Sorry, I'm on a sugar high right now! Everything's got to be exclaimed! –Eye twitches- !!! Anyway, you might want to translate some of this, so this site has a translator for you. (ignore spaces) http :// www. toggle. Com /lv /start /translator. htm

**Chapter 36: Hot-Headed**

"Do you want a piece of me, huh?!" Sam yelled through the bush. The kids' head disappeared immediately at Sam's dark scowl. If possible, she looked even more menacing when angry with an eyepatch.

"I'm afraid you may have to deal with a lot of that from now on…" Mr. Lancer said, frowning. "Being well-known is not the blessing everyone thinks it is, it's a burden."

Danny nodded sadly in agreement. Mr. Lancer was certainly right in saying that.

"Dude, look at the bright side." Tucker paused for a second. "Actually, I can't think of a bright side, but there has to be one, there has to!"

"Great pick-me-up, Tuck." Danny said sarcastically. Mr. Lancer decided to let them converse without his prying ears and left. Jazz watched him walk away before sighing depressingly.

"Guys, seriously, this could be bad. Danny, remember how that nurse at Sam's hospital reacted when mum told her about you? She nearly had a fit, and tried to hold you in by any means possible. Some people will see it like our folks tried to murder you, and… I'm afraid they could end up in court as a result."

"So what, you're saying I should just hide away?"

"That's what you did for the first half of the week." Jazz reminded him.

"And it nearly drove me mental." Danny shot back. "I'm not someone who can be cooped up in the same place for really long amounts of time. It was like a prison minus the bars!"

"Hey, let's not think about that stuff." Kiera said to the siblings, seeing that a row could occur at any moment. "What matters now is _now. _We'll deal with all of that _later._"

"Especially since I have to deal with _this _now!" said Sam through gritted teeth, pointing at the same peering head though the bushes. She stood up threateningly, throwing a disgusted look. "You. Get. Out. Of. Here. Right. This. Instant!"

The boy gave a look of pure terror, running off quickly. That was the good thing about having Sam around – she was always there to protect you… and scare the pants off anyone who dared to go against her.

"Thanks." Danny said gratefully. The five spent the rest of recess together. After Lancer's shout, mostly everyone stopped creeping up. However there was always someone bold enough to approach the group and get a closer look at Danny.

As the bell rang, everyone (quite depressingly) approached the inside of the school for another two periods of 'happy school memories', as Ishiyama had once put it. She was nice, but really had no idea what went on inside the school. She was always locked up in her office and only came out for assemblies. Danny, minus his friends or sister, headed off to Italian. Tucker and Sam headed to German, while Kiera to Indonesian. Jazz went to psych. Italian was classified as a hell-class, the students were bad, the teacher was poor and she didn't stand a chance in hell or high water at taming the wild class.

"Ciao classe. Ora shush! SSHH! Oh cielo, per favore, SILENZIO!" Of course, the teacher's cry to the heavens didn't stop anyone. People talked, yelled, screamed, smacked a plastic chair on each other's backs… This teacher, she didn't discipline anything! All the counter-attacks she made were Italian words. And considering English would go unheeded as well, Italian didn't do any better.

"Guarda, questa può e bene, e si può finire male. Peggiore delle ipotesi si è tutti a pranzo e soggiorno. Non solo la briga responsabili, tutti voi! Quindi, se vogliamo essere molto responsabile per soggiornare in tutti gli altri, I miei clienti! Spero che vi rendete conto che il ben comportati gli studenti si mangiano vivo per questo, hm? Oh, per l'amore di essere tranquilla ... Basta!"

People gradually became less rowdy. Translated, 'basta' means 'stop'.

The teacher, Signora Geoda, was in an extremely bad mood today. She really could yell at someone if she wanted to, but she never did. Danny was sitting next to Valerie today, and heard her mutter "Must've missed her coffee this morning." Danny silently agreed.

Signora Geoda told the class to do a work sheet. Danny found it was extremely simple and finished it within five minutes. The rest of the class must have too, because within three there was literally a chair flying across the room, as well as several new models of paper airplanes. Beside Danny, Valerie sighed deeply.

"She can't hope to control this… It's ridiculous; I haven't learnt anything all year! Man, my dad's gonna kill me when I get a bad end-of-year test score…"

"Yeah, and _my_ mum will kill me, too, when _I _get a bad end-of-year test score…"

"She's already killed you." Valerie said icily. "I always thought that you and Jazz were the only non nut-jobs of your family. Turns out I was right. And now, they've ended up killing their freak of a son! Idiocy at it's worst …"

"I'm _right _here, y'know." Danny said, throwing an angry look back at Valerie. "And it wasn't _their _fault what happened to me, either. It was my own."

"Speak for yourself, ghost kid." Valerie shot back. "As far as I'm concerned, you're dead."

"How'd you find out, anyway?" Danny asked suspiciously. "The only people who know the true story are Sam, Tucker, maybe Kiera, Lancer, and maybe my family and some other teachers. Tell me."

"Duh, AXION labs funds your parents! God knows why, though. They called to tell AXION confidentially after you had that accident. My dad just happened to be the one to pick up the phone."

"Greeeaaat…." Danny said sarcastically. "And I thought some people would actually be _slightly _nicer. Looks like I've been proved wrong. Nope, ghost or not, I'm still _loser _Fenton. Why do you hate me, anyway? And why do I get the feeling you're going to start telling people what really made me like this?"

"Relax kid, I promised not to tell anyone. 'Cept you, of course. And I wasn't going to, until some dead freak decided to talk to me."

"Don't call me a freak!" Danny growled. "Don't you have any sense of decency?"

"Not to you, loser. You have ten seconds to stop talking to me and forget we ever had this chat. Or else."

"Or else what?"

"Or else Dash."

Danny shut his mouth. Even though now, Dash stood not a chance against him, he didn't want any extra attention. For obvious reasons.

The period bell finally went. But to his dismay, Danny realized it was a _double _Italian and groaned. He was forced to sit uncomfortably next to Valerie for the whole of fourth period while the teacher shouted instructions through the ruckus that was the classroom. Danny was zoned out completely when he saw a plastic chair flying in his direction. Without even thinking, he became intangible on reflex, so it passed straight through him, unfortunately hitting Mikey who was sitting behind him at the time.

"Oh my God!" Danny exclaimed as he saw Mikey sprawled out on the floor, right underneath a chair. Danny pulled it off and helped him up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I've taken worse from Kwan." he said, shaking his hand around. (which now brandished a bright red mark)

"Che cosa diavolo sta succedendo qui?!" Signora Geoda said in shock. Danny looked at her curiously.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means 'what the hell is going on here?!'" she replied, angry that Danny hadn't understood.

"Someone threw a chair across the room and I, err, dodged it. Then it came and hit Mikey."

"I see… Now who did this?"

"Kwan!" someone over the other side of the room squeaked. He was far too scrawny to be considered cool. For that, he earned a death-glare from Kwan

"Voi! Again! Will mai smettere di agire! Considerando è quasi il momento per tutti di avere ora di pranzo, è possibile rimanere in questo puliti e caos infernale! Tu sei il rowdiest persona in questa classe, e mi hanno punito è anteriore . Tutti gli altri, sei libero di andare!"

"What?" was heard from the rest of the class. The teacher slapped her head and groaned, repeating herself in English.

"You! Again! Will you ever stop acting up! Considering it's almost time for everyone to have lunch now, you can stay in and clean this infernal mess up! You are the rowdiest person in this class, and I should have punished you earlier. Everyone else, you are free to go!"

Everyone poured out of the Italian room. Danny made a beeline for his locker, where he met up with Tucker and Sam.

"German was great! We got to try all these different German pastries! Oh wait – Italian, right." Tucker said. "Sorry, I forgot. Death-class today? You don't look too happy."

"Death-class is an understatement." Danny sighed replacing his books inside his locker. "I was talking to Valerie, and apparently her dad works for AXION, which funds my parent's 'research'. Her dad was the one that picked up the phone when mum apparently called them about the accident. And no, she doesn't show sympathy of any kind. It's almost like she hates me more, not to mention mum and dad. In her one-sided opinion, they murdered me!"

"Ouch…" Sam said, cringing at the thought of what that conversation was like. Danny hadn't finished yet, either. He spoke as he closed and locked his locker.

"That's not all; Kwan decided it would be a good idea to throw a chair across the room at me. I went intangible, so it went through me, but then it landed on top of Mikey! Man, I'm just sick of all this in my life…"

"I can see why." Sam replied. "You've probably got the most complicated life of anyone in this country. Err… _afterlife_."

"You don't need to tell me about that…"

"C'mon dude," Tucker spoke through a blocked nose, although it did sound slightly clearer. "let's go an' unwind for lunch, eh? You sure deserve it."

"Thanks."

_-End Chapter 36-_

**Author's Note:**

This was tough to write. Why, you ask? Because the entire week and the entire week to come has been made up of a severe heat wave in the start of autumn, averaging at 37 each day. And you all know what happens to my laptop on hot days. Over-heating is a problem right now, and I get to use this thing for about twenty minutes before I need to let it cool for an hour. –sighs- So I might be a little slow over the next week. It was a fluke the temperature cooled down enough tonight for me to finish this. So I hope you enjoyed it.

And I bet many are glad to finally see Valerie again, too. Don't worry, this isn't going to be the only time she's in it. And AXION is funding the Fentons! Hehe, what do you know…

Hope you enjoyed it and please review!  
Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon

Kris: Hey, you left me out!

Peace,

Kris


	38. Come with us, for Painful Experiments!

Author's Note:

**Author's Note:**

Hi guys, sorry I'm a little later than usual, but on DeviantArt I was asked for a sequel (which I'd incidentally been thinking about doing for a while now) to The Origin of the Ghost Writer. I've currently got eight pages on MS word down right now, and I'm really happy with the way it's turning out. Anyone who liked The Origin of the Ghost Writer should take a look when it's done. And just so you know, it's going to take you a while to read.

By the way, I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Yes, unlike everyone else I do like writing fight scenes. And I think you guys will either really like this one or kill me for it. Let's see! XD

**Chapter 37: Come with us, for Painful Experiments!**

Danny sat down at the bench and rested his head on top of his arms. He watched as Sam and Tucker sat down beside him, with a few others peaking. Sam looked as though she was about to burst at those who were looking, but Danny grabbed her around the arm before she managed to kill someone.

"Sam, don't worry about it. The more you beat them up for it, the more they'll want to come back because they think they'll be missing something."

"But they just make me wanna-!"

"Danny's right." Tucker said, now also taking to helping restrain her. "You'll just put yourself in a bad spot."

Sam looked as though about to burst out of the grasp from _both _boys, but eventually gave up and sat back down angrily. "Why don't you all scram?! The minute I get outta the grip of these two I'm going to pound you lot good!"

Danny and Tucker gripped harder onto her arm. "Sam, keep acting like this and you'll be the one they want to see." Danny said. "Just let it go, I don't think we can really get rid of this…"

She looked angrily at the sandwich (which seemed to have a kind of grass on top) before picking it up and taking a rather violent bite out of it, mercilessly tearing through the bread.

People started to turn their heads away and murmur quietly. It caught Danny's eye, making him turn and wonder what was going on. Over at the other side of the school, Mr. Lancer was talking to some strange men in crisp white suits. Danny stood up and headed over to the edge of the crowd, people instinctively shivering and moving away from him.

Danny's senses must have been somewhat enhanced, as he could hear what they were saying, even from a distance. Sam and Tucker advanced through the crowd to Danny's side and watched the events unfolding before them.

"…absolutely will not comply. This is ridiculous!" Mr. Lancer was saying to the men crossly, his arms folded and a very unimpressed expression over his face.

"Oh, I think you will." one man said, grinning slightly. The other pulled out a sheet of paper that apparently got the overweight teacher _very _worried. "That sheet of paper my assistant here has in his hand is a list of your _tax records._ Which, I have the pleasure of informing you, are relatively poor. Now _tell me what kind of paranormal activity is going on here?_"

"I, err…"

Suddenly Rihan burst into the scene, pointing hysterically at the group of students. "The kid's over there! The _ghost _kid, Danny Fenton!"

Danny visibly shook and swore loudly as the guys in white suits turned to the mass of students.

"Danny, hide!" Sam commanded. Danny didn't need telling twice before becoming invisible and watching the men approach the crowd.

"Which one of you is Danny Fenton?"

Many stayed silent. It was then, that Danny realized there must have been a lot more people on his side than he first thought, and were only interested in finding out the full story. However, there were those who decided _not _to help him.

"Fenton's invisible over there sir." Dash said calmly, while pointing at the spot where Danny was standing. Danny yelped as they shocked him with God-knows what, making him become visible, permanently, and fall to the ground.

"That'll stop you from becoming invisible _and_ turning intangible for an hour, ectoplasmic punk." one man smirked. "Now, come with us, for painful experiments!"

"And why on earth would I do that?!" Danny asked, backing away slightly.

"To better the government's knowledge of ghosts."

Danny stood up and continued to back away. "You guys are insane to think that I'd do that."

"If you don't comply, then we have every right to use force." The pair pulled out two silver pens, which unfolded into what no one but Danny could recognize as ecto-rifles. He ducked down as two bright green beams flared over the top of his head, several other students diving out of the way as the beam hurtled towards them. As they made contact with the ground, there was a loud bang and Danny felt a slight wave of aftershock electricity flow through him. 

The men began to fire randomly into the crowd, making everyone scatter away in different directions. Danny realized that there was one way to protect the other school children, even if it meant doing something he'd really prefer not to in front of them. Danny's feet left the ground as he took the fight to the air, the strange men jumping on two unfolding hovering scooters.

"Foolish specter! You think you can outdo the Guys in White?!"

"You've almost hit other kids!" Danny stressed. "You could be sacked for that, idiots!"

"Not in our kind of unit. Our motto is to hurt all until the ghost has been captured! Stand down!"

Danny saw another beam come flying in his direction. He flew out of the way, seeing the beam hit the top of the flag pole, incinerating the innocent flag flying at the top. Mr. Lancer ran over to underneath the fight, yelling about how they shouldn't be destroying flags, much less their own governments' flag. They, however, took no notice of him and flew in a straight line towards Danny, who dodged out of the way, and not wanting to hurt them, could only do that.

The two members of the Guys in White took their scooters and turned right back around, speeding towards him at blinding speed. Danny kept on dodging ecto-beams, which flew in every direction, blackening and ricocheting off of walls and the ground. 

Eventually there came a time where Danny could dodge no longer. He felt a green ecto-beam collide painfully with his stomach, causing what felt like an electric shock that had to have at least 60 volts through it. A shockwave spread outwards as it made contact with him, making the people below tense up and yell out, then run over to where there was cover. Sam and Tucker, however, being loyal to their friend, stayed right underneath the battle despite Danny's constant urges (after recovering from the blast) for them to move out of the way.

Danny saw another blast head straight for his head from above, and knowing he couldn't become intangible to avoid it, he dodged out of the way only to see it come and strike Sam. She cried out, the pain imminent in her voice.

Something happened to Danny. Rage, rage like he'd felt never before welled up inside him. His white aura became so bright people had to squint to look at him. His green eyes pierced from inside the blinding white, becoming sharper than an eagle's and full of hatred so strong that the people all watching him could literally feel it emanating off him. In the background, Dash commented on how that was exactly how it had felt in the classroom, only several times stronger. Danny didn't hear, even though he could have. He was deaf and blind to the world, with the exception of the Guys in White.

"Never hurt my friends." He said, in a voice low and menacing, making even the Guys in White cower instinctively. They turned to each other, shaking with fear.

"We've got a magnitude twelve." One whispered, before looking back at an enraged Danny. "What are we meant to do…?"

The other Guy in White bit down on his tongue and whispered back. "There's nothing we can do, when enraged, a magnitude ten alone cannot control its own power, even if it wants to… But… a _magnitude twelve_…"

Time seemed to slow down for the innocent bystanders, as a Danny's aura became an inky black. He suddenly screamed as a huge wave of darkness was blasted in the Guys in White's general direction. They fell from the air and landed in an uncomfortable looking position on the ground, crumpled and unconscious.

Danny's aura returned to white, and his piercing green eyes became their normal glowing green colour. And suddenly, what happened in a few seconds, Danny lost his aura, his hair flashed black, and his eyes flashed icy blue... then returned to their ghost-like state, aura regained completely.

It was then that he fell through the air, like a brick, until he hit the ground with a painful-sounding thump next to Tucker, who was trying to wake Sam up from her unconsciousness.

_You cannot trust anyone, Daniel…_

_You should know that by now, young phantom…_

_For they have already betrayed you…_

_You cannot trust anyone…_

_Even… Yourself…_

**Author's Note:**

Kris: Now the Guys in White? They were up-to-speed about this pretty quickly.

Moonlight: Yeah, and don't forget about the voice. It's repeatedly telling his subconscious that no one can be trusted. It's already made him slip up in the nurse's office.

Kris: Okay, you've clued at things long enough. Write! Write! Mush!

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon 


	39. Too Much Power

Author's Note:

**Author's Note: **

Moonlight: Yay! An Easter update! Man, I must be a slave to the keyboard…

Kris: No, actually you're a slave to me, your muse. Now mush! I said MUSH! You don't get your slave wagers if you don't write!

Moonlight: -grumbles- I have slave wagers…? Ugh, I have no life…

**Chapter 38: Too Much Power**

Danny Fenton lay limply on the ground, unconscious, next to Sam Manson and two members of the government, the Guys in White.

Mr. Lancer stood over the four, telling students to keep away from them. There certainly had been something _extremely _odd going on with Danny when he'd flashed back to his original human form… Although, as much as he'd like to wonder about that, the Fentons and the Mansons needed to be called. He ordered Rihan to watch the children as he headed to the office and asked for the student directory to look up their home-phone numbers.

"Yes, hello Mrs. Fenton, it's Mr. Lancer. There was an incident at school today where some people from the government-"

"The Guys in White!" Maddie exclaimed excitedly. "Oh, did they give Jazz and Danny a lecture on ghosts?! Thanks _so _much for telling me, I'll have to get Jack, we'll be right over!"

"Ah, no. It was… quite the opposite." Mr. Lancer said grimly. "They went straight after Danny and managed to injure Ms. Manson in the process. And then… something happened with Danny. If you'd like, I can explain in full detail if you meet me here, quickly."

"Wh-what?" confusion was imminent in her voice and the sound of something colliding with the floor was heard. "Y-yes, I'll come immediately with Jack."

There was a click as the phone was put back on the hook. Mr. Lancer sighed and began to dial the Manson's number.

"Hi!" said the overly-cheerful voice of Mrs. Manson. "Sorry, this is Mr. and Mrs. Manson's answering machine. Please do leave a message after the beep! _BEEP…_"

"This is Mr. Lancer calling. Yes, well, there was an incident at school where some people from the government called the 'Guys in White' came and attacked one of our students, and your daughter was unfortunately caught in the crossfire and is currently unconscious. We'd like you to come over immediately please. Thanks."

Mr. Lancer sighed and put the phone back on the receiver. This was a sticky situation, especially with the governmentnow involved. And what had they meant when they said Danny was a magnitude twelve? If they were using the same kind of Richter scale as they use to measure earthquakes, it must have mean that Danny was incomprehensibly powerful. And yet, Danny didn't even seem to know it. When he attacked like that, it was merciless. And he knew Danny enough to know that in a fight, he would never attack even a ghost like that, much less a human being.

Something had changed when Sam had been attacked… Danny had lost control of his emotions, and with it, his own power…

Sam began to stir. Before opening her eyes, she put her hands to her head and whispered softly "So many volts…"

As she opened her violet eyes, she saw Rihan's face staring down at her. Her screech pierced the air, possibly deafening the cruel man in front of her.

"For God's sake girl, keep your voice down, or you'll wake all the dead that _aren't _already awake!"

"You!" she said, pointing at him accusingly. "You told them! You despicable sick old man!"

"Get to the nurse's office _now _Manson!"

"And what happened to Danny?! I bet this is YOUR entire fault because YOU told them! I hate you, **I HATE YOU!!**"

"NURSE'S! OFFICE!" Rihan roared back. "Baxter, take that girl by force!"

Dash nodded quickly and grabbed Sam around the waist, dragging her in the general direction of the nurse's office.

Eventually, an ambulance came to take the Guys in White to hospital for check ups, still unconscious. However, they didn't take Danny; they needed parental permission and for some reason, the Fentons hadn't arrived yet. It didn't matter though, because no less than thirty seconds later, the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle pulled up in the school car park, turning sharply so that it almost collided with several other parked cars, missing them by inches. The two Fenton parents burst out of the car, running over to Danny's unconscious form.

"Oh Danny!" Maddie cried, picking her unnaturally cold son up. "Oh, what happened to you?! Where's Mr. Lancer?"

"He's coming." Rihan said in a way making him sound like a perfectly reasonable man. "In fact, he should be back by now. He may be doing something, but I'm sure he'll be here soon."

Maddie nodded sadly, a few tears rolling down her cheek. Jack kneeled down next to them, stroking his son's white hair.

"It'll be okay Danny, trust us, it's going to be fine…"

Danny's green eyes opened slightly, however the effort to do so made him close it almost straight away. He looked as though in extreme pain, and everyone saw why very quickly. His foot had slowly, very slowly, began to melt. Maddie screamed at the sight and hugged her baby boy crushingly.

"Danny! No! Hang in there! Please hang in there!"

He groaned painfully, as though straining, however still not moving. Slowly, very slowly, the melted foot began to pull itself back together.

"Jack, he's destabilizing…" Maddie told her husband, her voice barely above a whisper. "Just like we feared… the portal's given him so much energy that he can't control it any more, and when he can't, he uses too much…"

Maddie hugged Danny even tighter, if possible, into a bone-crushing grip which would have left him struggling for breath, had he needed to breathe.

"Mum…" he said weakly, still not even opening his eyes. "I can't move…"

"I've got you…" Maddie said as she lifted Danny up. She then saw Mr. Lancer. He walked over to the parents and their sick child.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton… your son, he was attacked by some people from the government called the Guys in White. And when one of their attacks went off course and hit Ms. Manson, he became enraged to the point where he could no longer be described as Danny Fenton… He attacked mercilessly, and I doubt he had any control over it…"

Maddie and even Jack were becoming paler by the second. "What did it look like…?" she asked hesitantly, then paused before asking "What… did it _feel _like…?"

Mr. Lancer wet his lips as he tried to come up with an answer. "It was like… pure _hatred…_After the Guys in White hit Ms. Manson, that is… Danny became white. _Extremely _white. And then he became black, _inky _black… And screamed, sending what I could only describe as a dark, black wave of raw _hatred_ at them. They just fell to the ground… And then Danny flickered to the appearance of his normal self, and then fell through the air to the ground… I don't know why none of his bones are broken from the fall…"

"Ectoplasm is malleable." Jack said. "It can be bent to any shape… the reason ghosts usually stay in one form is because most take the same basic shape of their living self and can't bend it themselves unless under extreme circumstances, where the ectoplasm takes a life of it's own and does it itself. Few ghosts can master shape-shifting, though…"

Maddie looked at her husband, a bazaar expression on her face. "That's one of the most intelligent things you've ever said! I'm baking you an extra cookie tonight."

Jack's face brightened, but then darkened again at the sight of his son.

"It's like we feared…" Maddie said, now also stroking her son's stark white hair. "When he was in the portal, so much ectoplasm was injected and manifested inside of him that he couldn't control it… And, then there's the ecto-purifier in the ecto-filtrator… that's super-concentrated, it would have given him an unimaginable power magnitude… easily an… eleven… But the attack he used, it can only be used by twelves and it would take a thirteen to send those agents to hospital like that…" Maddie stopped for a moment. Jack looked at his son fearfully. "It means that _nothing _can make him angry or fearful, such emotions could trigger a complete loss in control, and the results would be disastrous… People would get hurt, and Danny could destabilize himself in the process… and by that, I mean literally _melt…_"

Rihan just shrugged and walked away. Maddie, Jack and Mr. Lancer just wondered how a man could be so _heartless. _It didn't matter though, because Danny was, at this time, extremely unwell.

"He needs super-concentrated ecto-purifier." Jack said, looking at the now-solid foot. "And we can't use the stuff from the portal, firstly, it's contaminated with other materials now that the portal's been turned on. And secondly, removing it would make the portal explode. We'll have to order a new bottle from AXION labs…"

Maddie sighed and nodded. "Mr. Lancer, it may be a while before he can come back. You understand?"

"Yes, that's fine." Mr. Lancer said as he looked at the incredibly poor state Danny was in. "Do you think he'll be alright?"

"Yes, he'll be fine… eventually." Maddie replied. Then she stressed "But when he comes back, nothing, and I mean _nothing _can tick him off or make him fearful. As I said earlier, if those emotions get out of hand… I don't even want to think about it."

Mr. Lancer nodded. "You better get him home quickly."

"Yes." Maddie agreed. "Goodbye Mr. Lancer. Tell Jazz what happened, no doubt she's in the library. Come on Jack."

And with that, Maddie, Jack Fenton made there way to the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle, with Danny in their arms, still barely conscious.

In the background of all of this, Rihan smirked.

"It's happening… slowly happening…"

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Oh man, I bet the last two lines are going to raise a few questions.

Kris: Hehe… and you guys thought he was just a nasty person. Hehehe…

Moonlight: It's all starting to come together. REALLY come together. I think that within the next 5 to 10 chapters, a lot of things are going to be answered.

Kris: Yup. We've been clue-ing for too long. It's time for the real action to unfold.

Peace,  
MoonlightUmbreon


	40. The Wisconsin Ghost Strikes Again!

Author's Note:

**Author's Note:**

Well, I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, but it was my Grandpa's 80th this week and everyone was running around like a mad dog. Ie; I didn't have time to write. Anyway, here's the new chapter!

**Chapter 39: The Wisconsin Ghost Strikes Again… and Again**

_Danny…_

_Danny…_

_You wonder why…_

_You wonder why you can't trust them…_

_They've betrayed you, Danny…_

_The Guys in White, they didn't come on a whim…_

_They were sent…_

_You should know this; _

_Why can't you see it?_

_It was one of the ones you hold dear…_

_That sent those men…_

_You cannot trust them…_

…_ever._

Danny's eyes slowly flickered open, but closed due to the light. It was… that voice… again… What was the deal with that voice? It was so _persistent! _But why? It was already starting to mess with his head; he was even starting to think about becoming wary of his friends and family!

Danny slowly opened his eyes this time, and instantly raised his arm to shield his eyes from the brightness of the room. Soon, he realized, the room wasn't bright at all. It was just the after-affects of having his eyes closed for such a long time. The room was in actual fact quite dark, and had various silver tools and equipment scattered all over the place.

Now coming around properly, Danny finally noticed he was floating in a large glass tube, filled with something green and sticky. He immediately panicked, but then forced himself to calm down. Where was he to start with? The place looked exactly like… his parents lab! Of course! How could he have been so blind? But what was he doing in a big long tube filled with green something-or-other?

Jazz lay on her bed, her arms folded behind her head. Danny still wasn't awake – and it'd been almost a week now.

She wondered what Danny must feel like right now, how a coma-like state would be. Would he even know he was in that state? Probably not; when he wakes up he'll probably wonder what was going on, especially considering he's in a large tube filled with ectoplasm and ecto-purifier.

She was worried – there was no denying it. Every day he drifted there, unmoving and asleep, she grew a little more worried that he may never wake up. She had been told by her parents not to go down there at the moment; but she'd ignored that. Every night, after she was sure that they were asleep, she'd sneak out of bed and head downstairs. Now was her chance for tonight.

Both Fenton parents had gone up to their room, and Jazz could hear her father's thunderous snoring. That would easily cover up her footsteps, even if her mother didn't have her Fenton Earplugs in.

Still, as quietly as she could, Jazz stood up from her bed and opened her door, which squeaked loudly. She flinched, and listened for any sign of movement.

After standing there listening for about thirty seconds, she concluded that her parents indeed were not coming, and continued down the stairs to the basement. She flicked the light on and closed the door behind her, then walked up to the glass tube, where her little brother was floating. But this time he wasn't asleep – he was fully awake with his hands pressed to the glass, looking confused.

"You're awake!"

"Jazz! What's going on…? Why am I in here?"

"You were in… a coma, I think." Jazz replied. "I'm not really sure if it was a true coma, but… it was enough like one. You were out for five days. Mum and dad took you home after you used too much power all at once, and while you were in the car you just passed out completely. They put you in here and told me it was a mix of ectoplasm and ecto-purifier, and that it would restore your energy. They said that eventually it would wake you up, and you'd be fine."

"But… why is it phase proof?" Danny asked, becoming intangible and fruitlessly attempting to phase through the glass.

"I don't know." Jazz replied. "Maybe it was because they didn't want you to get out right after you woke up so that they could check on you, but I'm not sure…"

"Okay… well, could you get them? I really wouldn't mind getting out of this thing. I feel like something they fished out of that portal to perform experiments on."

"Danny… I hate to say it, but I'm not even allowed to be down here. They told me that I couldn't come down and so I've been coming down every night to check on you… You might just have to wait until the morning."

"Please Jazz? Could you? This stuff feels weird. Plus, you know I don't like being in enclosed spaces for too long!"

Jazz gritted her teeth. Her parents would have her neck but she just couldn't leave her brother down here like this when he obviously needed to get out. Besides, her parents _would _like to know if Danny was awake, so maybe they'd let her off.

"Okay, I'll go and tell them. For you."

"Thanks." Danny replied gratefully as he watched Jazz give him a smile, then walked out to get Maddie and Jack. Danny drifted in the tube for a while, involuntarily wondering how much he could trust his sister or his family.

He shook his head vigorously – of course he could trust them! It was that voice, that stupid, repetitive voice constantly telling him he couldn't trust them that made him think like this! It was the _voice _he couldn't trust. Danny continually told himself, in his head, that there was NO way he could trust the voice, not ever.

…but in the back of his mind, there was something. Just a little, just that tiny bit of doubt.

A thud was heard from upstairs. Danny wondered what it was – probably Jack falling down the stairs in his excited rush to get down to the basement.

A few seconds later, Jack burst through the basement door, while shoving his own wife out of the way to see Danny. Maddie fell backwards, but paid no mind and got straight up again, heading also to the glass tube.

"Danny boy! You're awake!" exclaimed an ecstatic Jack.

"It's been _five days!_" Maddie said, pointing at the pin-up calendar on the opposite wall. "Sweetie, how do you feel?"

"Relatively good." He replied, before pressing his hands back to the glass. "But could you guys please let me out, I feel like I'm in a tiny, sticky aquarium."

Both Fenton parents grinned. "We can." said Maddie. "But we'll have to keep an eye on you. And I mean a _sharp _eye on you. If you start to destabilize again, you'll have to go straight back in there."

Danny nodded and watched Jack press a big, red button (typical) to open the hatch at the top. Danny drifted upwards and climbed out, landing back on the floor, covered in thick green fluid.

"Uhh, do you mind if I-"

"No, of course not. Jazz is getting a mop."

Danny became intangible, the ectoplasm sliding clean off of him.

"I bet that feels better." Jazz said as she came into the basement, holding a bucket and an old mop.

"You have no idea!" Danny replied. "What time is it, anyway?"

"1:29am." Jazz replied as she pushed him out of the way so she could mop the ectoplasm off the floor. Maddie frowned and checked her clock, obviously not having checked the time when she'd gotten out of bed.

"I'm sure you're not tired, so you don't have to go to bed." Maddie said. "Tomorrow's… well, technically today's Sunday so you can have Tucker and Sam over. But, you go off, there's something we need to clear up…"

"What…?" Danny asked, seeing his family's worried faces.

"Well, on Monday at school, you used so much power all at once that you almost destabilized… If it happens again, there's a chance that you could… _fully _destabilize. It seems that if you have a strong, very sudden emotion, like fear or anger, two of the strongest emotions there are, you can release a great amount of power all at once without even wanting to."

"So you're saying that I've just got to become devoid of these emotions? That's impossible!"

"Not devoid." Maddie continued. "Just try to keep them to a minimum. If you think there's something that's going to excessively frighten or anger you, please, don't go anywhere near it or try to provoke it."

"Okay… I'll try." Danny said uncertainly. "I might… go and watch some television."

"Hey, Jazzy-pants, would you stay up and watch Danny? Your mother and I have been working non-stop all day to help Danny."

Jazz nodded in agreement as she finished mopping up, putting the bucket and mop back in a corner. Maddie and Jack went back upstairs to catch up on their lost sleep, but not before giving Danny a rib-crushing hug each.

Danny headed upstairs and dropped to the couch, his sister not too far behind. He picked the remote up and flicked it onto a random channel.

_This is Tiffany Snow, live from Wisconsin for the Channel 2 late news. A recent report said that the dubbed 'Wisconsin Ghost' has been caught on camera, red-handed. Take a look._

The picture came up on the screen showing a disturbingly Dracula-like ghost, using an intangible arm to pull money out of a safe. Jazz looked at it strangely, immediately noticing its odd appearance. It looked more like a vampire than a ghost, but it certainly was a ghost, there was no doubt about it. What vampire glows and can become intangible?

_The Wisconsin Ghost has an eerie resemblance to a vampire, and is extremely dangerous, as well as ruthless. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to approach this dangerous being. The person who took the previous photograph was found dead no-less than two minutes after it was taken, numerous burns and several rib and skull fractures were found on his body. The man, Mr. Gerald Jones, was found dead and still clutching the camera that had taken the picture._

_In related news, multi-billionaire Vlad Masters has been reported missing and presumed dead after a local resident managed to film the Wisconsin Ghost dragging Masters into the forest near his home. The girl who filmed it, nine year-old Sarah Garaph, was reportedly playing on Master's property with her six year-old brother, Seamus Garaph, when the film was taken. Both were found dead, still on Master's property, two hours ago, Sarah clutching onto the camera. Both suffered severe burns and multiple fractures to the ribs and skull. This is the footage:_

A little boy threw a Frisbee up into the air as high as he could, before it came down and hit the ground. Suddenly, there was a shout of anger and another, almost identical shout of fear. The camera turned to face two figures, one the vampiric Wisconsin Ghost, the other, Multi-billionaire Vlad Masters. Master's struggled, but the Wisconsin Ghost's strength proved far too much as he was brutally dragged into the forest. Then, a great cry of pain was heard and echoed everywhere, before stopping to a deathly silence. Then a little red low battery light came on, and the film stopped there.

_No one is sure how exactly to catch the Wisconsin Ghost, so everyone here in Wisconsin and all surrounding states are hereby being warned to stay out of the way of this fearsome spirit, for it seems that it is no longer if, but when it strikes again. Do not attempt to film or photograph it, for all the people who have managed to catch it have been reported either missing or dead. This has been Tiffany Snow, Channel 2 late news._

Jazz's mouth was hanging slightly open as she whispered "Oh my God…" over and over again. Finally, she whispered "Sarah… my pen pal!" and promptly burst into tears.

**Author's Note:**

I was listening to "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas all the while writing this. It's a beautiful song XD. Anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter, and again I'm sorry for the lateness. I'm not going to make any more promises about new chapters, because I usually can't keep them. Anyway as always I'll say please review! There's a preview for the next chapter for whoever does, including anonymous reviewers! (unless you don't leave an email address, then I can't, sorry)

Peace,

Moonlight


	41. Too Close for Comfort

PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER 40

**Author's Note:**

Chapter 40! (not including the prologue) Oh my God, I never thought I'd get this far! XD Big thanks to ALL of my reviewers, you've all been such a great help.

**Chapter 40: Too Close for Comfort**

Danny comforted his sister as she continued to cry endlessly.

"Sh-she was one of my best pen-pals!" Jazz said through her own tears. "And now she's dead, because of that bloody ghost!"

Danny felt sorry for Jazz – she'd never looked this sad. She continued to cry as she went to her room and pulled out all of the letters Sarah had sent her other over the years. The one on top of the pile, which Danny caught, was dated to just two days ago. For a nine year-old, she had pretty good handwriting and her spelling was extremely good too.

_Dear Jazz,_

_It was Seamus's birthday today! He got a little toy Frisbee, and he's been playing with it non-stop. We use it in Mr. Master's castle grounds, because he's really nice and says that it's fine if we do it. He says he likes to hear our playful yells while he does his business work inside._

_Next time we go, I'm thinking of taking my video camera. What do you think? I just have this feeling that it'll come in handy – maybe Seamus will do something really funny with that new Frisbee of his. I'm not sure how he'd do that, but who knows?_

_Anyway my mum wants me to have dinner now. I'll write soon!_

_Sarah_

Danny frowned. Her hunch turned out to be the death of her. Even he was starting to get a little sad for the girl and her little brother that he'd never even heard of.

Suddenly Jazz froze. Danny looked at her, lowering an eyebrow. She pointed behind him fearfully, now shuddering and even more tears flowing from her eyes.

It was the Wisconsin Ghost himself.

Danny yelled in fright while his sister grabbed onto him, clutching his arm in a vice-like grip.

"Jasmine… Daniel…" he said, whilst smiling in a way that sent shivers down both sibling's spines. "How nice to see you…"

Danny suddenly went into over-protective mode. "What do you want?!"

"Nothing." said the vampire-like ghost. "Except your pure _trust._"

Danny blinked. It couldn't be… could it? "You're the voice…" Danny stated fearfully. "You're the voice in my head, telling me over and over that I shouldn't trust _anyone!_ You've been hypnotizing me you telepathic jerk!"

The Wisconsin Ghost raised an eyebrow. "Really…? Strange… I always thought it was some pathetic human who was the telepathic one… Never mind! I need you _eliminated, _because you're _different._ There's no time to explain why.

On reflex, Danny became invisible, and to his surprise, Jazz became invisible with him. However, the small victory was short-lived, as the Wisconsin Ghost dove down and grabbed him before he could go anywhere; ripping him out of Jazz's grip in the process. The Wisconsin Ghost flew up high, out of reach from her.

Danny became visible again and tried to phase out of his captor's hand, which was presently engaged in strangling his throat. However, it failed, and the Wisconsin Ghost's hand continued to choke him.

Danny bit into the ghost's hand, causing him to yell and let go. And with the split-second chance he got, Danny dove at the Wisconsin Ghost. However, just as he did, his head met with a thick pink beam.

Danny screamed as he felt like his head was on fire. Distantly, he heard a twisted laugh. The laugh of the same spirit who had killed Jazz's pen-pal and her brother as well. The laugh of the same spirit who couldn't even be courteous enough to tell him _why _he was to be eliminated. The laugh of the same spirit that had brought on such misery in Wisconsin…

Anger and fear built up inside of Danny like a volcano, just waiting to erupt at full capacity.

…and from there, he knew no more. He was no longer in control of his actions, no longer in control of his thoughts, no longer able to remember…

Jazz saw it happen; the light that illuminated her brother more than anything before, then the shadowy darkness that engulfed him afterwards. Fear was injected inside of her, flowing unrestrained. Her brother's hate was so thick it was almost a tangible substance…

Jazz could no longer bear to look as a loud scream was heard from the Wisconsin Ghost, and a high-pitched yell escaped her mouth as she fell into a swirl of pain and blackness…

The three lay on the floor, unconscious. Danny was slowly beginning to destabilize, unable to pull his form back together again…

**Author's Note:  
**Yeah, it's short. Like, REALLY short. But I had to end the chapter there, there's nothing to lead off unless I start a new chapter. Sorry. I promise the next chapter will be longer than usual to make up for this.

Peace,  
MoonlightUmbreon


	42. Dream a Decision

Author's Note:

**Author's Note:**

So here we are with chapter 41… As promised, this chapter is longer than usual. Big thanks to all of you readers and especially reviewers. The support's been wonderful! EDIT: Sorry, I posted something from another story by accident! It's fixed now.

**Chapter 41: Dream a Decision**

_Danny was down in his parent's basement. Jack and Maddie were configuring the last components for the invention that would, finally, let Danny become normal again._

"_Jack, pass me a couple of screws and a screwdriver, would you?"_

_Jack obediently fetched the tools, and handed them to his wife. Danny watched on nervously, hoping against hope that this machine would work. Because if it didn't…_

_Maddie finished screwing in the screws, to hold a major component together. She then put on some welding gear that was left on the workbench._

"_Blowtorch." She requested, holding her gloved hand out. As Jack passed it to her, she pulled the welding mask down so as to protect her face. Sparks flew outwards as she attached the component to the main machine. Jack then began to fiddle with the very last component, tightening and loosening certain parts, as well as adding things on. _

_Maddie requested the last component, the main generator, and welded it on. With a wide smile, she lifted the mask from her face._

"_Danny… It's done!"_

_Danny tried to smile, but couldn't. As much he wanted to be human again, he just couldn't face the fact that he wouldn't be able to fly, become invisible, or become intangible ever again. Well, for hopefully a long time, anyway._

"_You… you're sure about this, right?" Danny asked. "I mean, it won't backfire and do something horrible?"_

"_No, it won't. We're sure. This machine will either work, or only work halfway. It won't backfire. We've made sure that every single wire, connector, capacitor, electricity converter… you name it and we've checked it for bugs."_

"_Yep, there's nothing to worry about, Danny-boy! It'll scan the ectoplasm that you're currently made of, and then reduplicate your body to the way it was before, whilst extracting the ectoplasm."_

"_Umm… that sounds painful." Danny replied nervously. "I'm… not sure it's… safe…"_

_His mother approached him, putting her hand on his shoulder and removing her goggles. Her bright, violet eyes looked into his, full of defiance. "It __**will **__work, Danny. That's a promise; it will work."  
_

--

Maddie yawned as she looked out the window. It was great having a soundproof house; she didn't have to listen to what was going on in other rooms; namely the downstairs television which was probably blaring – they had to get Jazz's hearing checked, she always had the TV up loud and was constantly asking what they had just said.

However, her relatively insignificant train of thought was broken when she saw a man with a film camera head straight for the lounge-room window. But he didn't look amazed; he looked shocked and fearful; almost as if there was a fight going on down there…

"DANNY!" she yelled. Her husband looked to see what she was going on about, but she'd already disappeared down out the bedroom door and had almost-literally flown down the stairs. Jack became curious, and followed her to see what all the fuss was about.

Maddie entered the lounge room to find Danny, Jazz and the Wisconsin Ghost lying unconscious on the floor. And Danny wasn't just unconscious; he was destabilizing, and quickly.

"Jack, Danny's destabilizing!" she yelled in desperation to her husband. "Quick, we've got to get him downstairs!"

At those words, Jack tripped down the stairs with a loud crash, quickly picked himself up from the floor and grabbed his son, running off downstairs and into the basement. Maddie knew (or rather, hoped) that he'd know exactly what to do. She saw her daughter was just knocked out. It was lucky that it wasn't worse. She laid her gently on the couch, and then approached the unconscious form of the Wisconsin Ghost.

This guy was an evil nutcase. And there's only one thing to do with evil ghost nutcases. Maddie dashed downstairs to the lab, and picked up the prototype Fenton Thermos. If this thing worked, the Wisconsin Ghost would become trapped inside it, and no longer a threat. She came back upstairs, and approached the limp ghost.

"This is for your own good," Maddie said, gritting her teeth. "_Plasmius_."

The Fenton Thermos whirred to life, however instead of sucking the ghost inside like it was supposed to, it only made a slight electrical-like crackle. Just like the Ghost Portal had…

"Piece of junk, there has to be another way!" Maddie said in annoyance, and more than anything, worry. If that ghost woke up, all hell could break loose. Then, a thought occurred to her.

She began to drag the Wisconsin Ghost downstairs, were she promptly pushed him into the portal, closing it behind herself.

However, there was no reason to celebrate, for something put its cold fingers between the portal's two shutters and wrenched them open, then grabbed a startled Maddie and pulled her inside.

This wasn't good.

--

_Danny looked into his two parent's trustful eyes. However, he just… couldn't. No matter what they said, he knew it was risky. __**Really **__risky. If one part of this machine were to malfunction, despite his parent's reassurance, he could be done for. This time, permanently._

_He couldn't do it. He just couldn't do it._

--

Jack could only watch onwards as the love of his life was snatched away from him, into the Ghost Zone. Danny was safely in the ectoplasm and ecto-purifier, so he would be fine. He'd already re-stabilized… and Jazz _should _know how to get him out of there when he'd woken up…

Quickly, he grabbed a pen and on a post-it-note, he scrawled _Your mother was taken into the Ghost Zone. I've gone in after her. Jack_ He then stuck it to the glass tube that contained Danny.

Without thinking it through, Jack approached the Ghost Portal, open and swirling with emerald green glowing energy. He took a deep breath, and entered the foreign world.

And in his haste, he picked up not a single item of equipment.

--

_Danny had been thinking all day. He didn't listen to anything his teachers had said in class, he didn't hand in any of his homework, and didn't even care after he received multiple detentions for those two reasons. Finally, at the end of the last class of the day, Mr. Lancer approached him, looking at him with worry._

"_Danny, is something bothering you?"_

_Danny's eyes remained glazed over. Mr. Lancer put his hand on the boy's shoulder, looking at him with a little more worry. "Danny?"_

"_What…?" Danny finally responded. "Sorry, I was just… thinking…"_

"_Is something worrying you? I heard of your multiple detentions for not listening and, well, doing __**nothing**__."_

"_Well…" Danny hesitated. He ran his fingers through his stark white hair, and then sighed. "I don't know what I should do…"_

"_About what?" Mr. Lancer questioned. His student's eyes were full of uncertainty and more than just slightly fearful. _

"_My parents finished that thing that could change me back to normal."_

"_Isn't that good?"_

"_It should be. And I know my mum and my dad are saying that it's perfectly safe… But… I have this feeling. It's a feeling of dread…"_

"_You think it will backfire?"_

"_No, not completely, anyway… But if it does, I'm worried of what could happen. I could…" Danny cut himself off there. It was apparent he was now at the stage of being a nervous wreck. And who could blame him? There wasn't a single other teen in the world that had gone through what Danny had. In that sense, he was unique. In a very bad way._

"_How much chance do you think it has of failing or backfiring?"_

_Danny sighed deeply. "I don't know… It's my parents' stuff, it could have any chance of backfiring. But I actually… I actually don't believe that the machine can work…"_

_Mr. Lancer looked at his student with pity. "I don't know what you'll decide to do, Danny, but your parents are brilliant scientists. I'm sure, that even if the machine backfires, you'll be fine."_

_Danny's lips formed a small smile that never reached his worried eyes; showing his true emotions. "Thanks… I'm going to catch up with Sam and Tucker, one last time before I… I do it."_

"_You'll be fine." Mr. Lancer reassured him, with a slight smile. "I'm __**sure **__you'll be fine."_

"_Yeah…" Danny said as he stood up. The troubled teen walked to the door. "Just incase something goes wrong, and I never see you again… thanks. For everything."_

"_My pleasure, Danny."_

_Danny left the room without another word, and headed off to find Sam and Tucker._

--

Jazz began to wake up. At first, she looked around dazedly. However, after a few moments, she realized exactly her situation and wondered were Danny had gone, urgently. Had the Wisconsin Ghost managed to keep his consciousness and whisk Danny away? Then she immediately realized that her parents may have been here. With haste, she got up and ran downstairs to the basement, not even realizing it when a reporter from outside the window shouted "What a scoop!" to no one in particular.

There, her brother floated in the large tube filled with the very substance he was made from. However, there was a post-it note attached to the outside of the glass.

Jazz's eyes became as wide as saucers as she read it. Because there, in that note, her father had signed both his and his wife's death sentences; they were in the Ghost Zone, separated from each other and completely alone.

They were both surely doomed.

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: I loved writing this chapter! I sure hope you guys enjoyed it. And yes, I know I left it at _another _cliffhanger.

Kris: Then get writing! Go on! Mush!

Moonlight: Ignoring that, please review! I do reply to everyone (unless you ask me not to) and value all of them very much! Every. Single. One.

Peace,  
MoonlightUmbreon


	43. Blundering in the Ghost Zone

Author's Note:

**Author's Note:**

Moonlight: Yay for another update! Here it is, chapter 42! In this chapter you'll-

Kris: Don't spoil it, idiot!

Moonlight: Oh yeah… right.

**Chapter 42: Blundering in the Ghost Zone**

Maddie Fenton gasped as she was pulled in through the portal, a cold hand locked around her arm.

"Didn't think you'd get away from me _that _easily, now did you?" the Wisconsin Ghost said with a grin. "Don't you remember our _deal?_"

"It wasn't a deal; you had me strapped up to a pole with my mouth duck-taped, then grabbed my hand and shook it without my consent!" Maddie angrily said back. "Besides, I thought you were unconscious!"

"Yes… you _thought, _didn't you? Turns out I was just kidding. Now that you're in the ghost Zone with me, how about we go a little deeper, hm?"

"No!" Maddie objected, trying to jerk her arm out of the ghost's excruciatingly tight grip. "Don't you dare, Vlad! Don't you even _think_ about it! In the deal that you forced me to agree to, you said clearly that you'd leave me alone if I didn't turn you in as the scum you are!"

"Well… minds change, don't they? And I _did _force you to agree to it, so I think I'll take it back. Off we go, before your buffoon of a husband comes blundering through the portal. I would _so _hate to run into him, and say, kill him like the rest of the people who caught me on camera. It's your choice, we leave now and see if he can fend for himself against the ghosts; or we can stay so I can _make sure _he doesn't fend for himself against the ghosts."

Maddie was lost for words, but surely, Jack could take care of himself, right? …right…? "Let's… let's go." she said finally. The Wisconsin Ghost smiled, and then took off through the mass of green swirls, purple doors, and the floating islands and buildings. She looked nervously around; ghosts were everywhere. All shapes and sizes, and all seeming to know Vlad. However, the worst part was, that even if she did manage to escape, she wouldn't have a clue in the world (or in this case the zone) on where she was, and how she was supposed to get back.

--

Jack burst through the portal and landed on some solid ground. Solid _floating _ground. He looked around in amazement at every green swirl, every purple door and every suspended island and building. Finally, he realized his mind was wandering, and immediately headed directly where the path lead in what direction he _assumed _his wife had taken.

He ran, but soon found out that walking was a lot easier, and he'd need to retain his energy if he wanted to reach Maddie. Occasionally, a ghost would fly past; however, they never really took more than a quick look at him, most probably wondering what a human was doing there.

Eventually, he realized that he was getting nowhere fast on foot, and really didn't know what direction he was supposed to be heading in, even if it was the only tangible pathway around. And so, he looked around for some passing ghosts, and then picked one that looked particularly friendlier than the others that were around at that moment. It seemed to have no face, and wore what looked like a detective's outfit.

The ghost noticed the waving man and lowered himself down to his level, giving what would be a gently tap on the head with its cane, had it not gone straight through instead.

"Now what's a human like you doing in a place like this?"

"I came to rescue my wife from the Wisconsin Ghost!" Jack said enthusiastically. "But I don't know where they've gone."

The ghost sighed whilst putting its cane on the ground and leaning on it. "That's rather foolish of you. It's incredibly dangerous for a human; you should have brought something along to protect yourself with."

Jack suddenly realized that in his rush to get in, he hadn't taken anything with him. Certainly _not _one of his wiser moves.

"Look, 'm not going to stop you, but I think it would be a good idea to go back, _now, _rather than _later, _after you get attacked."

"Look, ghost. I'm saving my wife, and you're going to help me!"

"Please don't call me _ghost._" it replied through apparently gritted teeth. "And you can't _force _me to help you. Although I will be kind enough to tell you to _leave now _if you know what's good for you."

"I won't abandon her." Jack replied defiantly. "Never."

The ghost sighed yet again. "Well, don't blame me when you get yourself into a situation you can't get yourself out of. I haven't any idea where the Wisconsin Ghost went, so I can't help you there. Goodbye, it certainly hasn't been much of a pleasure talking to you."

With that, the ghost promptly flew off to get back to doing whatever it was doing in the first place. Jack continued along the suspended pathway.

--

Jazz's breathing quickened. The impulsivity inherited from her father was now overcoming her usual 'think-it-out' strategy. She couldn't just _leave _them in the Ghost Zone, especially because it seemed as though neither had any equipment with them at all. But, she'd have to be sensible about what she did.

Jazz ran upstairs and grabbed a large back pack from her room, and then filled it with lots of low GI foods from the pantry in the kitchen. That way, she'd be able to eat less and save more without getting hungry, should she get lost. She arrived back in the basement and put her backpack on the ground, and started to sift through the many ghost weapons and equipment her parents had stockpiled over the years.

She sifted through the treasure and the trash, favoring lots of small weapons that worked quite well over the large and complicated ones that were harder to carry and were more likely to malfunction or backfire completely. Among them was the Fenton Lipstick, a very useful little ecto-blaster that looked perfectly harmless – until you used it. The Fenton Grappler seemed like a good idea, just in case she'd need to trap something. Another was the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick. She knew it was just a baseball bat, but then she went over to Danny's tube and quickly dipped it in the ectoplasmic substance. If she didn't know better, this would now pack a fair punch – well, hopefully, anyway.

After placing everything she'd need in the backpack, she lifted it up and swung it onto her back. Considering it was full of food and ghost weapons, it was reasonably light. Then it dawned on her; she'd probably need a first-aid kit of sorts, as well. She opened one of the many cabinets to find, low-and-behold, the first aid kit. And, for a first aid kit, it was rather heavy. That didn't matter – she'd need it. Quickly, she placed it in the backpack and then headed over to the portal, opening its doors along the way.

"Well… here goes nothing. Danny, I'll be back, I promise. Mum and dad are going to be fine."

And then, just as her dad had, she leaped into the unknown world that was the Ghost Zone, ready to fight her way through to rescue her parents.

Jazz was amazed at the inside; there was enough green to make her go off the colour permanently. However, she didn't waste her time taking in the scenery. Immediately, she scanned the area for rogue ghosts, and pulled out the Fenton lipstick, so it was in her hand and at the ready.

With brisk steps, she made her way along the path. Up ahead, she saw one ghost that had no face, dressed in detective-style and was floating along the path, playing with his walking stick.

"Another human? At least you look properly equipped. The last one I saw was blundering up the path with not a single way of protecting himself, that's pure idiocy for you."

Jazz immediately pointed the Fenton Lipstick at the ghost. The way he talked was friendly, but from when she had listened to her parents, ghosts were masters of deception.

"Whoa geez, I'm not going to attack you, kid!"

"I'm just being careful." Jazz said, still pointing the bar of lipstick at him. "What's your name?"

"My name is Amorpho." the ghost said to her. "And I will be happy to tell you what that other human was doing if you stop pointing that thing at me! As a master of disguise I know more than anyone that that little bit of so-called lipstick can do more damage than it makes out."

"Fine." Jazz said as she lowered the weapon. "What's he done and where's he gone?"

"He's gone straight down this path. I told him he should turn back because he's not equipped, but he wouldn't listen. He also asked where the Wisconsin Ghost had gone."

"Thanks." Jazz replied gratefully. "You know my parents have always told me that most ghosts attack within the blink of an eye."

"Oh, not me." Amorpho replied. "I go into towns and pose as people for practical jokes; I laugh, not attack. What's the point of an attack if you can't laugh at its after-affects?"

Jazz nodded, and carefully passed around the ghost. Amorpho flew off, and Jazz continued down the path. The first step was to find her father; although not the most useful, he was the closest and any kind of company would be helpful. Plus, he was undefended.

However, Jazz stopped in her tracks as a large, mechanical ghost sprang up in front of her.

"I am Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter! And I've been looking for a ghost hunter to add to my collection… you'll make a _very _nice pelt for my bedroom wall!"

Jazz gasped, stepping backwards. Her test was here. And with her inexperienced ghost-hunting skills, she wasn't sure she could do it.

**Author's Note:**

It seems I've left it at another cliffy. Hehe… Well, hey, at least I updated quickly! Please review, as said before they mean a lot to me! Constructive criticism VERY welcome!

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	44. Trapped

Author's Note:

**Author's Note:**

Hope all of you enjoy the chapter. Not really much point for an Author's Note here…

**Chapter 43: Trapped**

Jazz, on impulse, fired the Fenton Lipstick at 'Skulker'. The robotic ghost was pushed backwards, but it didn't greatly affect him. He immediately retaliated with a weapon of his own, large and deadly.

A massive ecto-blast hit Jazz squarely in the chest and threw her backwards, thankfully not off the edge of the pathway. Jazz couldn't even cry out, for it was excruciatingly painful. She was going to get _wasted_ if she couldn't think of something…

Skulker grinned. "You're not much of a fighter… are you? At least the _fight_ for your pelt will be made easier."

"Pelt…?" Jazz whimpered. She knew that some ghosts would probably attack her, but _pelt…?_ That was just far too much to handle. Her heart practically mashed her rib cage, pumping fear around her body and making her feel positively sick. She couldn't think straight, which for her, was a very rare occasion.

_It's okay Jazz, you can do it! _She told herself. _Don't lose your head over this, you've got more weapons than he has!_

Skulker's grin became wider, (if possible) and as though he was reading her mind, a very large, quite blunt saw extended from his mechanical arm. "Hmm… I think you'll scream _nicely_. And considering that I have a few weapons that _can _touch humans in the Ghost Zone…"

That was it. Jazz's mental state had had enough. And in a heart-pounding panic attack, she lost consciousness.

--

Vlad finally arrived at a large football, after three and a half hours.

"What are you going to do, and why won't you take me back?!" Maddie asked in rage. "You're a complete nutcase! A Fruit loop!!"

"I AM NOT A FRUIT LOOP, WOMAN!!" Vlad yelled back at her. "CALL ME THAT AGAIN AND YOU'LL WISH YOU'D NEVER EXISTED!"

"You've changed." Maddie said darkly. "I miss the old Vlad; the one that used to be into doing anything for a laugh. I can't believe I used to love you!"

"You… what…?!"

"You heard me!" Maddie continued her mental attack, knowing full-well she couldn't fight him off. "But now you're a bitter old nutcase, ever since that damned accident! I don't know why _you _changed, because Danny ended up having almost the same accident and he's still the same little boy he always was! But you! You…"

"Get in!" Vlad growled, forcing the football-door out of the road to reveal a swirling green portal. Maddie's collar was grabbed in such a way that it almost choked her, and was roughly thrown inside. She was inside a lab, not unlike her own. And while Vlad was still stumbling through the portal, she took her chances and ran for it.

Unfortunately, even her fast footwork couldn't outdo the speed one could gain through the air. She was caught before she even managed to get to the top.

"Listen, Maddie. You do not run off. If you do… well, I'll make sure that your buffoon of a husband never makes it out of the Ghost Zone… alive OR dead. Now, if you do exactly as I say… there will be no pain to the members of your family, Is it a deal?"

Maddie gritted her teeth. There was always a catch… Always.

"Fine."

"Good…" Vlad said, a wicked grin covering his face. His eyes glowed a little more luminously for a moment, right as he finished "You won't regret it."

--

Jack sighed. He'd been walking for hours, and had still found no sign of Maddie or that wretched Wisconsin Ghost. Doubt crept in his usually ever-positive mind as he heard the first signs of hunger originate from his stomach.

No, he would keep going. For Maddie. He would travel to the ends of the earth and the Ghost Zone just for her.

Just as Jack managed to inject some more positive thoughts in his mind, there was a fork in the road. And not just one, there was a path for five different directions.

This was going to become rather complicated…

And of course, Jack took a route at random, and didn't even leave any kind of marker as to which way was home.

--

Maddie was forced into a room with a small bed (which contradicted the length of her adult body) and not much else. There was a door on the side, however, leading to a bathroom.

"Now, you'll stay here. I was _going _to let you stay in my room with me, but after those remarks, I think you'll be perfectly fine right here."

And with that, Vlad slammed the door behind himself rather violently. Maddie was left sitting on that small wooden bed, wondering what was going to happen next.

The nutcase couldn't be trusted.

So why did she agree to that 'deal'?

--

Jack trudged along the random route. Another twang of hunger hit his stomach, now he was _really _regretting not bringing any food with him.

Another half an hour, he found himself at another fork, this one offering three different directions. He picked the left, and continued forward.

After many more hours, and many more forks, Jack _finally _he needed to go home, and try a different strategy. He began traveling back across the path ha had come from, until he reached the last fork he had taken.

But he couldn't remember which route he had come from. Each seemed just as probable as the next, and he never had paid any attention to particular drifting landmarks, his mind one-tracked on his goal.

The goal of which he'd never reach unless he took the right path back home.

It was one of those times where he sorely wished Jazz was around.

--

Unbeknownst to Jack, Jazz was in the Ghost Zone, and against all her better judgment. However, she was far from conscious. After she'd woken up from the panic attack, Skulker had clubbed her over the head and continued on to his lair.

Skulker landed on a patch of surprisingly green grass, and approached the inside section of his lair. Inside was a number of different heads plastered to pieces of wood and stuck to the wall.

Jazz was roughly thrown against the wall as Skulker found one of his many small, cramped cages. He found one that still had a little room left inside; it contained a ghost with overly-sharp teeth and dressed in a long overcoat. His glasses had a crack down the middle of a left lens, and he looked positively consumed with a nasty mix of fear and anger.

"I don't remember who you are." Skulker said bluntly. The ghost growled, gritting his teeth down to make the picture of an extremely sharp glare.

"I'm the Ghost Writer, you idiot!" his voice was quite deep and had a rather nasty edge to it. Skulker merely shrugged.

"Well, _Ghost Writer, _you've got a friend. A human one, at that."

"Nothing else is going to fit in here, are you _mad?_" the Ghost Writer replied coldly. "Wait, you're not mad, you're just lacking proper common sense with that suit."

Skulker didn't reply. Instead, he removed the backpack from Jazz and threw her into the cage with the Ghost Writer. He then shoved the backpack into a random corner and promptly left.

Jazz was put in a rather uncomfortable position, where her legs were crunched up against the iron bars and her arms had to be wrapped around them to save what little space there was. The Ghost Writer couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her, despite his usual dislike for humans. He placed one cold finger around her wrist to check for a pulse, before remembering that he couldn't touch humans whilst in the Ghost Zone. His fingers just slipped straight through, regardless on whether or not he actually wanted them to.

"Are you faking, or can't you hear me?" he enquired. After no response or movement of any kind, he concluded that she was probably unconscious. At least she was still breathing. There was a slight amount of blood dripping from a wound in her head.

…

After a few more hours, Jazz finally began to wake up. Her eyes flickered open, and looked around nervously. Where was she…? Eventually, when her pupils found the other occupant of the same cage, she screamed quite loudly, curling up further into the corner. She reached for her back, only to find her backpack was missing and lying out of reach in a corner on the other side of the room.

Hastily, the ghost stuffed a notepad and a pen back into his pocket. "Hey, I had no hand in this! Notice how _I'm _in the cage as well? Besides, I can't even touch you if I want to!"

Jazz still remained in the corner of the cage. She was half-scared to death; she didn't know what was happening. The last thing she remembered was that Skulker ghost smiling wickedly and smacking her over the head with his big robotic arm.

The Ghost Writer sighed. "Look, if you don't help me break out of this place, we'll end up like the last lot. Hanging on the wall, with our necks plastered to a plank of wood. Do you _really_ want that?"

Jazz nervously nodded her head, although still huddled into the corner, as far away from the ghost as physically possible. Even if it was only a few centimeters.

"Good. Now, I _think _I have an idea… You're willing to listen and do exactly as I say?"

Jazz looked around nervously. "Well… what choice do I have…?"

The Ghost Writer sighed with relief. This was one of the reasons he didn't like humans; they always judged stereotypically. Serial killers get away because they act so nice and friendly, while the more violent - yet innocent - ones were the ones those ended up punished.

"Now this is what we're going to do…"

**Author's Note:**

No, I didn't pick the Ghost Writer because he's my favorite ghost; I picked him because he'd fit this part better. In other words, unlike the Box Ghost, he's not obnoxious and he isn't lacking brain activity. Besides, I wanted one of the good (yet trouble-inducing) ghosts of the series. Pandora's too powerful to be caught by Skulker, Amorpho's already been used… So yes, basically that's my reason.

More Danny next chapter too!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and, as usual, please review! ;)

Peace,

MoonlightUmbreon


	45. A Mystery

Author's Note:

**Author's Note:**

Assuming they're still reading, to that certain anonymous reviewer who told me about the thing that was wrong about chapter 16, (well, I think it was that one) I changed it for you so I hope it makes more sense. I'm sorry that I made that wrong statement.

On with the story. Enjoy guys!

**Chapter 44: A Mystery**

Sam woke up early that morning, anxious to call the Fentons and find out Danny's condition. However, the other end just kept ringing and ringing. It wasn't possible that they were all still asleep; Jazz and Maddie were early-morning and as a result, _had _to both be up before seven in the morning. And it was eight.

Curious, she got dressed into her usual gothic outfit. However, as she passed the mirror, she took a look at her reflection. Her now patch-less eye had a small, tiny scar were the iris crossed to the white. It didn't _look_ like a scar, but more a small, blurred spot.

_Cool. This'll tick my parents off… I'm no longer in mint-condition. _She thought with a smile. Anything that ticked off her parents was good.

She headed down the many stairs of her mansion, and entered the kitchen. Her mother was already up. Jeez… how early did she need to get up? It was bordering on something like five-thirty am these days. And her father wasn't much better; usually following no less than fifteen minutes later. It was _ridiculous_.

"Oh, hi Sammy!" her mother said in a disgustingly sweet voice. I discovered that if you put some red food die in pancakes, they turn _pink! _I'm making some right now, how about it?"

Sam's eye twitched. "I'm happy with toast. Really, _just _toast. Nice and brown, with _only_ butter."

"Oh, but really… you love pancakes…"

"Yeah, when they're Fenton-made, not oozing in pink unnecessary and by all means unhealthy food die!"

Sam found herself being scowled at. She sent the ugly expression straight back, and continued on to the pantry, pulling out a loaf of bread and stuck a slice in the toaster beside her.

--

After escaping the 'evil pink clutches' of her mother and managing to get completely ready without being dressed in a hideous pink outfit by her father, Sam finally left her house, and began to walk to the Fenton's 'asylum', or so Jazz had called it.

As she knocked on the door, there wasn't even a sound. It wasn't possible they were out; they'd be watching Danny… right? And she'd _always _been welcome inside…

Sam tried the door, only to find that it was locked. Mentally slapping herself, she went around to the living room window. Not only was it locked, but doubled up with a large steel plate. What was this house, under lockdown? Certainly no way a robber could get in with this kind of security if they didn't have their wits about them. This would certainly not be easy.

"Hello?!" she yelled from outside. "Is anyone there?!"

Still, no reply came. Sam sighed and headed down the side and into the backyard. There still wasn't any way in. Except…

Sam began to nervously climb up a few very thick, sturdy vines that had creeped up the wall and latched onto the roof. A few times, she thought it was going to snap or fall, but thankfully, it never did. Carefully, she climbed into the house through Jazz's open window.

The bed wasn't made. Well, considering the time of morning, that didn't surprise Sam in the slightest. However, this did mean that Jazz was up. She exited the room and headed downstairs to the kitchen, taking a quick look around to see if _anyone _was in there. However, it was completely empty.

The basement laboratory's entrance lay ahead. Sam wondered if she should go down; both Danny's mum _and _dad had warned them not to go down there while Danny was recovering. Well… as long as she didn't touch anything, it should be okay, right?

Sam carefully headed down the stairs to the dark, dank basement. The Ghost Portal was sitting there, wide open and swirling. Danny was floating in what looked like an oversized test tube. Sam wasn't so shocked; she had thought that it might happen like that. But why was the Ghost Portal wide open with no one at least half-conscious there to guard it? The idea that all three of them had decided to go in was preposterous; they wouldn't have done that and left Danny. Plus, the Fenton parents had always lectured Tucker and her about how dangerous it was inside the Ghost Zone. They wouldn't have gone in for no reason, _especially _Jazz.

"Hey Danny, are you awake yet…? It's been almost six days… and I'm here now. It's Sam."

Danny didn't stir. Sam sighed depressingly; she really wanted Danny back. Tucker did too, it just wasn't right without the three of them together.

Suddenly the phone upstairs rang. It might have been Tucker; he'd been calling the Fentons every morning to check on Danny too. Sam ran back up the stairs and into the kitchen, picking the phone up just before it was about to stop ringing.

"…hello…?" Sam said, slightly out of breath.

"…Jazz, is that you? You sound different." Maddie asked through the phone. There was no background noise at all, however the reception was quite poor.

"No, it's Sam. Where are you guys? I rang this morning and no one picked up, so I came around."

"Not now; Sam, you need to pass it on, I was kidnapped by the Wisconsin Ghost." Maddie whispered. Sam gasped.

"You don't mean… that _thing _that's been on the news?!"

"That's exactly who I mean! We left the Ghost Zone a while ago through his own portal and then he locked me up in a small room! And if Jack's not there, he could have headed into the Ghost Zone after me… I'm not sure about Jazz, though."

"Well… what can I do? I'll do anything!" Sam asked urgently.

"Tell everyone that the Wisconsin Ghost is really-" Maddie was cut off. The voice of the dreaded Wisconsin Ghost came into the scene.

"Did you honestly think you could spread the word, Maddie? I have this place bugged, you know. I can see everything you get up to in here."

Fury engulfed Sam; Maddie and Jack Fenton were like her parents away from… well, her parents. Therefore doing anything to either would be asking for her sworn vendetta – something that most were not willing to gain, and would go to great lengths to avoid.

"YOU LET HER BACK ON THE PHONE RIGHT THIS INSTANT, YOU FILTHY LITTLE CREEPY SCUMBAG! IF YOU DON'T, I'M NOT JUST GOING TO _THREATEN _TO TEAR YOU APART; I'M GOING TO _PROMISE _TO TEAR YOU APART!!"

The Wisconsin Ghost gave a sigh through the other end. "Please, girl. Do not think that you can defy me. Goodbye."

The phone was abruptly hung up. And although she was cut short, Maddie had managed to pass on some vital information to Sam. For one, she'd been taken into the Ghost Zone and through into the real world where the Wisconsin Ghost lived. For two, Jack was probably in the Ghost Zone looking for her, and had probably dragged Jazz in with him, despite all rational thought of doing something else. For three… by the sounds of things, the Wisconsin Ghost had a whole other identity.

Sam called Tucker on her cell phone. Two heads were better than one; sometimes being friends with a techno-geek was handy.

--

_Danny was breathing quickly, even though he didn't need to. This was it; there was no going back from this point forward…_

_Maddie and even Jack had a serious look on their faces, as they checked over the machine for what seemed like the fifty-third time._

"_I'm sure… that it's completely safe." Maddie said, marveling over what they'd created. "Danny, it's time."_

_Danny was sure that if he had a heart, it probably would have exploded from his chest by now. He just wanted to wake up from this nightmare… but he knew he couldn't, because he knew it was really happening, and there was nothing that he could do about it._

_Danny approached the machine, as Maddie started to hook him up. There were small wires going in everywhere – a bit like an EEG, only it was more than just his head._

_Once his mother had put all the cords in all the right places, she kissed and hugged him, quite tightly. Jack gave him a breath-squeezing hug._

"_Alright, ready Danny?" Maddie questioned. Danny quickly nodded his head – he wanted it over with – fast._

_SNAP!_

Danny woke up from his coma-like state with a start. He was unsure what the snap was, or if it meant anything. He wondered about his dream for a moment before realizing he was back in the tube. Then… last-night's memories came back… The Wisconsin Ghost attacked, but then something happened, and he could remember no more than that. He didn't know if he'd lost or won… or even if the battle was finished. Thinking further, he must have let his emotions get the better of him. He must have started to destabilize _again._

"Hey, Mum! Dad! Jazz! Anyone!?" Danny yelled. He wanted to get back out of this tube, or whatever it was.

Sam and Tucker raced down the stairs to the basement.

"Danny, you're awake!" Sam said, glee sparkling in her eyes. Tucker grinned.

"Dude, we were beginning to think that you might never wake up!"

"Well, I am now… Hey, I've got something to tell you; but could you let me outta here first?"

"Uhh…" Sam looked around at the two large control panels, filled with different unlabelled buttons. "I wish I could…"

**Author's Note:**

Not quite a filler – you'll see what I mean in the very last chapter. Yes! This chapter has a link to something in the final chapter! Well, it's kinda a clue, anyway. Or maybe it's not. Who knows! I finally know what I'm going to do in the last chapter! And… well, I'm not telling you ANYTHING. ;)

So far, we're past the halfway mark, but not over the three quarter mark in progress. So there's still a bit to go.

Peace,

Moonlight


	46. The Plan

**Author's Note:**  
Moonlight: 293 reviews! Okay, this time I'm going to send EVERYONE who reviews the chapter that hits 300 reviews previews for the one after it!  
Kris: And she'll send it to you right after you send it! Or… when she wakes up in the morning or finishes school… something like that!  
Moonlight: Also, after the last chapter was posted, (44) the word count was EXACTLY 67000! Just a little thing I noticed.  
Kris: You noticed something!? -faints, requires resuscitation-

**Chapter 45: The Plan**

"This will be our only chance." The ghostwriter whispered. "If we bungle this, then we can consider both of our heads as wall-art!"

Jazz nodded in reply, the fear visible in her eyes. This was going to be an _extremely _close shave. "You're sure it's going to work though, right…?"

"I can't be sure of anything…" he replied sadly. "But I don't see any other way. We just have to try – if we don't, then our heads hanging as wall-art will be a truth, not just a possibility. We have to do it…"

"I still don't like the odds… I'm nowhere near any kind of gymnast! I'm even injured!"

"That's because you've got brains, girl! I can see it from the way you act – you're rational, you don't jump into situations without thought. You proved it with that pack you brought in here. If you can't make the leap… then think on your feet."

"I still don't think…"

"Just try. We haven't any other way. If you don't try, then we're as good as done for. Without trying, we're hanging ourselves in a noose. Just, promise me, you'll try. Because only you out of the two of us can do your part."

"Okay…" Jazz whispered back, keeping her eyes firm on the door.

--

Maddie sat on her bed, looking at the cold stone walls with malice. She never used to hate Vlad… she used to think he was a very charming man. The accident had changed him… not just his appearance, but… his actions too. He used to get what he wanted by making people happy and laugh. He'd think of the world as one big joke; a place to explore and have fun and… well, that just wasn't him anymore…

Now, he was a conman. A cheat, a ruthless liar not caring for the consequences for his actions. He stole without moral, killed without thinking, only for his own personal gain.

The thought sickened her.

He sickened her.

Jack could be in terrible danger now, and knowing Vlad, he probably went back into the Ghost Zone to finish him off.

How did he really expect to gain her love?!

A scary thought crossed Maddie's mind – if he hadn't changed from the accident, she was going to marry him instead of Jack.

She was very close to _literally _sick when she realized that.

--

Danny had tried to phase through every possible place in the tube – but nothing would work. Not the lid, the bottom, or any of the glass outer casing. Nothing.

Sam had nearly had enough, sitting down on one of the chairs. She didn't want to press any buttons, because, as-you-do, the Fentons had left them unlabeled. There had to be nothing short of hundreds there.

Tucker, however, was still hacking away with his PDA. Unfortunately, he wasn't having much luck. Apart from trying to get through a heavily encrypted database, the whole thing was just too complicated. Tucker still didn't know what would let Danny out and what would kill, disintegrate, or otherwise harm him.

With a dull thud, the PDA hit the floor. Immediately realizing what he'd done, Tucker made a dive-grab for his precious machine, kissing it wildly. Sam watched him in utter disgust, making a gagging action. In his bombardment of 'compassion', he kissed the touch screen, consequently setting something off that sent a light (yet nonetheless painful) electrical shock

"TUCKER!!" Danny yelled, as soon as he stopped feeling electrical impulses flowing throughout his body.

Sam snatched the PDA out of Tuckers hands, and promptly threw it at the nearest control panel in rage. Tucker let out a scream of sadness and terror as his 'beloved' PDA was smashed into pieces from the impact.

However, Danny was more concerned about the buttons it had collided with on its one-way trip to the controls.

A large crack appeared around the glass as more electricity poured through it. Danny couldn't stop himself from screaming – this electrical current was significantly stronger than the last.

Sam and Tucker watched in horror, as there friend slowly fried more and more. The glass couldn't handle the many vaults coursing through it – it began to crack and leak.

After what seemed like years, the entire outer casing smashed, and the electricity cut itself off. Ectoplasm and ecto-purifier poured out all over the place, making a great green mess over the floor. Danny flew out, shaking from the shock, and, by the looks of things, still had a few vaults flowing through him.

Danny shakily landed down on the ground next to Sam and Tucker. "Are you alright Danny?!" Sam asked urgently, grabbing his arm. Unfortunately, there was still some electricity running through him, and, making a loud snap, giving her a slight electrical shock with what was left. Sam cringed and jerked backwards, the hand that she'd touched him with shaking badly.

None of them spoke, but waited a while for Danny to recover fully. His voice trembled as he spoke.

"I – I guess ect-ectoplasm conduc-ducts electrici-ity, huh?"

Still his two friends remained silent. Danny sat on a small cardboard box for the next fifteen minutes. When he finally felt okay again, he stood up silently and asked "Where is everyone?"

Sam bit down on her lip, whilst Tucker looked a little fearful. "You're mum…" Sam started, trying to keep going. "She… she called. She got kidnapped by that Wisconsin Ghost…"

Danny's face became that of shock, then fear, then rage, in that order. Desperately trying to keep the large amount of emotion under control, he finally asked "W-what about Jazz, and dad?

Tucker looked as though unable to say anything, while Sam looked grave. Graver than usual, even for the gothic girl that she was.

"You're dad bounded into the Ghost Zone after her, apparently … and you're mum thinks he might have taken Jazz with him…"

Danny was stunned. By the sound of it, some horrible things had happened to all three other members of his family. It seemed to be that all (or at least most) had gone into the Ghost Zone with little-to-no knowledge of what to expect.

What on earth would he do…?

--

Jazz lay in wait patiently, doubt filling her mind. She was sure this wouldn't work – but she had to stay positive. As the Ghostwriter had said, negative could see the sliver of light and hope that was there disappear into a whirl of darkness.

The door hinges creaked, Jazz attempted to mentally prepare herself for what was coming. She knew what she had to do – how she was going to do it was an entirely different question.

However, nothing could have prepared her for the horrifying sight that came to her vision next. A screaming and crying little girl was carried into the room by Skulker. Tears ran down her small face without restraint, she was ridden with ash and looked utterly terrified. Jazz's mouth opened – she was horrified at the sight.

For the little girl desperately struggling in Skulker's tight grip was Anita.

She was roughly shoved into the cage beside them, which was labeled in bold red letters: 'FOR PLASMIUS'.

Jazz's heart broke as she saw Anita crying and holding the bars of the cage, pulling at them as though it might work.

Jazz noticed not the Ghostwriter, desperately making hand signals to set forth their plan. Her eyes remained fixed on Anita as the two were roughly pulled from their cage by Skulker. Their plan could no longer work – it was much too late.

Anita met both Jazz and the Ghostwriter's eyes before another fruitless attempt to pry the bars open.

"You're his sister… help me…" she whimpered in a small voice. "Please…"

**Author's Note**

Please resist the temptation to smack me in the face for this. T'was screaming to be written. FernClaw, I know you how much you liked Anita when she first appeared, so I'm going to apologize to you right here and now.

By the way, anyone who uploads a story on should go through their work once it's uploaded to the document manager. The stupid thing makes grammar mistakes and word replacements everywhere, plus, as you've probably noticed, copies the first sentence at the top during the upload. So go through it before you post - unless you're in a hurry.

Also, remember that if this chapter hits 300 reviews, then everyone who reviewed it shall get a preview of the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed reading.

Peace,  
MoonlightUmbreon


	47. Maddie's Decisions

**Author's Note:**

Yeah, well… there isn't one this time.

**Chapter 46: Maddie's Decisions**

Maddie, strapped to a chair, watched a big wide-screen television by force. She didn't want to look – but at the same time was transfixed. On the screen it showed a large robotic ghost holding a small, crying and struggling girl - Anita. She was crammed into a cage, while the ghost turned to another cage beside it. He pulled out a ghost with a pair of glasses and a very thin frame, and then – to Maddie's terror – Jazz. She had a large wound on her head, and was looking with sadness and shock at Anita.

_The wiry ghost beside Jazz was looking at the little girl in shock, too. Both hanging from one arm each, they turned to each other._

"_It's too late, we can't do it anymore!" the ghost said urgently, his emerald eyes racing back and forth from Jazz to Anita._

Tears began to well up in Jazz's eyes. "Then what do we do…?"

"_Please, help me!" Anita cried harder. With one more sad look at the tiny girl's direction, the ghost hung his head._

"_I don't know… I just don't know…"_

The screen cut out, and the Wisconsin Ghost untied her from her chair, although kept a firm grip. "Enjoying yourself, Maddie?" he mock-asked. "To save your daughter, the ghost she was with and the little girl, you know what to do."

Maddie was torn – renounce her husband or save her family.

But she knew there was really only one choice here.

--

Danny looked at the portal with a mix of fear and malice. "You guys know what I have to do."

"Danny, don't! There's got to be a better way!" Sam said urgently. "Remember the talks your parents gave us?! About malevolent ghosts, ready to jump out and attack at any second?! And all the ghosts that you've already told us that attacked you so far?!"

"Yeah dude, you have to think about this." Tucker backed up. "You don't want to end up like the rest of your family, do you?"

"I don't _care _if I end up like the rest of my family!" Danny shot back. His eyes glowed more luminously than normal. "I _don't care!!_"

"But Danny, there's _got _to be a better way!" Sam argued back. Danny's eyes began glowing so brightly that it scared both her and Tucker.

"I said _I don't care_!! I _don't care _what happens to me! They're my family, and _I won't abandon them!_ They wouldn't abandon me!"

"Fine, if _you _won't listen to us, then _we're _coming _too_!" Sam yelled back. She'd be damned if she'd let her best friend do something so dangerous without her. "I can't let you do it alone!"

Tucker paused for a moment. "Neither can I. Dude, if you fall there, unless we come you could be as good as dead. Uhh… no pun intended."

"B-but… you can't come! You could get killed!"

"And you could get melted, so I think we're even." Sam shot back. "Take us, or you're not going anywhere."

--

Jazz and the Ghostwriter were dragged, by their collars, into a small and rather cramped steel room. Skulker grinned as he threw them both against the wall.

"Considering you have two better-than-average looking heads on you, I think I'll let you _starve _instead of risking you struggling, making me damage them. Have fun, whelps."

"No!" the Ghostwriter yelled. Being a ghost, he got to his feet much faster than Jazz did and flew at Skulker just as he locked the door, making him slam straight into the front of it. He fell to the ground like a brick. He got up quickly, however. Jazz ran over to him despite her now-even-worse splitting headache.

"Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine." he replied. "It hurts a little, but that's the _least _of our problems. We're sealed in – we're going to starve!"

"Oh my God – you're right!" Jazz said, as though only just realizing it. "Wait, what about you, ghosts don't eat!"

"True, but not true. Ghosts get energy by automatically absorbing all of the natural ectoplasm in the Ghost Zone. There's even a lot of unidentified and undetectable – invisible, so as to speak – ectoplasm in the human world, too. But there's none here in this room, and we're sealed off from it all…"

"W-well, how long will you last without it…?"

"About the same amount of time you'll last without anything to eat or drink. We have to get out of here…"

Jazz put her hands to the door and felt around it. "I don't know how – we're completely sealed in."

The Ghostwriter dragged one of his hands through his messy black hair, deep in thought. Jazz didn't dare interrupt him, especially considering she didn't have any valuable ideas of her own.

"I can't think of anything…" the Ghostwriter said sadly. "There's no way out. To put it bluntly, we're stuck." he then pulled out the pen and note pad he had shoved into his pocket upon seeing Jazz first wake up, sat down, legs crossed, and began to write.

"Umm… what are you doing?"

"Writing."

"Why?"

"Can you think of anything better to do? As a writer, I know more than most that you can get ideas from completely random things. And considering there's nothing but steel to give anyone ideas here, this is a good a way as any."

"Riiight…" Jazz was obviously doubtful. The Ghostwriter merely shrugged and continued to scribble on his pad.

--

"Lunchtime, Maddie!" Vlad called. "Only the finest foods in Wisconsin for you, my dear."

Maddie grunted a reply, something that was indistinguishable from either "Thanks dear." or "I hate you so much you evil little idiot." It was most likely the later.

"No… that wasn't right. Now, what do we say…?"

"Thanks dear…" the two words were spoken through teeth gritted so hard that they were at risk of shattering. The next part came out sarcastically. "I shall do whatever you say, for you are my world, your royal highness."

Vlad smiled very smugly, either completely missing the sarcasm altogether or choosing to ignore it. "Yes… yes I like that."

A low growl issued from the back of Maddie's throat, as Vlad sat her down into a chair in a table and tied her around her stomach and legs to it. The chair was cemented into the ground as though he had been waiting for this moment to come. Actually, he probably was. And all this time, he had never reverted from his ghost form…

Maddie could feel the rope cutting into her skin, even through her thick HAZMAT jumpsuit. "Could you _please_ loosen this?!"

"No, I can't risk you escaping, can I? Or, if you prefer, I can always use electrified ectoplasm."

"The rope is good." Maddie said quickly. Vlad's smile deepened, as he disappeared into thin air, then reappeared again with a plate in hand. He served it down in front of her like a chef.

"Buon Apatite!"

Vlad vanished again, leaving Maddie staring at the meal on her plate – it was _glowing _rice. Bright, vibrant, green-glowing rice.

"You expect me to eat _this?!_" she was met by no reply. And with a small groan, she remembered that she hadn't been able to eat anything for breakfast. She didn't know what to do, starve, or to practically eat _ectoplasm _for _lunch_…

--

"You two both got something that – okay, they work."

Two smoking holes had simultaneously appeared in the lab basement ceiling. A startled Sam dropped her gun from fright.

"Danny, please tell me why your parents left the bloody safety off?!"

"They, uhh… don't have a safety. _None _of my parent's things have safety – they say that for quick access that it's better to go without it."

"Are they _insane?!_" Tucker asked as he slowly put his weapon down, backing away quickly. A few moments later, it blasted with little to no warning, creating a third smoking hole in the wall.

"Just… don't touch them and find something more stable." Danny ordered. He'd already found his weapon in the form of a small ecto-gun. It was compact, but powerful.

Finally, after more dangerous rummaging, Tucker and Sam found two ecto-rifles that were designed to stun ghosts before capturing them – that would do fine.

"So… You guys feel okay with those?" Sam nodded, however Tucker wasn't quite as sure. Both Sam and Danny ignored his whimper.

Sam held in her other hand a jar of toothpicks. "We just keep putting these down as trail markers – for some reason there's bottles of them in here. I've got five of them with me. That way we won't get lost – sound good?" she was answered by Danny's curt nod.

The three turned to the portal. It seemed a lot more scar than usual, now that they were finally going into it.

"This is it guys – we've got everything we'll need, right?"

"Food, water, weapons and trail markers." Tucker ticked off. "I think we're good, except for my PDA!!"

"Will you shut it about that PDA?!" Sam said, teeth gritted. "C'mon, let's go."

The last Fenton and his two friends disappeared into the Ghost Zone, knowing not what to expect. One thing was clear in their minds, however – they were going to get Maddie, Jack and Jazz back, even if it killed them to do so.

**Author's Note:**

Wow, this one was fun to write. When I was writing the part about the ecto-weapons, I realized that there was no sign of Maddie and Jack EVER putting any kind of safety on them. :P So, I guess I couldn't help myself.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, aaaaaand one more thing…

Cookies for all those who reviewed the last chapter – now over 300 reviews! I swear, you readers are the greatest I could ask for. Thank-you, sincerely.

Peace,

-MoonlightUmbreon


	48. Times of Desperation

**Author's Note:  
**Yeah, I took another long and unexplained break. If you've read my profile while I was gone you'll already know that my computer's screen went nuts and resulted in my dad forking over a ton of money for a whole new computer. I can't stop thanking him now! And then... well, I had all this schoolwork and couldn't seem to find any inspiration... but its okay now. I'm getting myself back on track and sincerely hope that this chapter (even though I know it won't) will make up for the long wait.

**Chapter 47: Times of Desperation  
**Hopelessly lost, Jack sat down, trying to gather his thoughts and remember exactly _which_ direction he had originally come from. However, the attempt was fruitless – every direction looked like the same thing. Jack wasn't quite as stupid as everyone sometimes thought – he knew when he was beaten. He knew that his only chance of getting out would be more confused wandering. There were thankfully no ghosts around to attack, but also unfortunately none to help him either. His stomach growled loudly, and with nothing to fill it up, continued to get increasingly uncomfortable.

"Get away from me you creep!" Jack knew that voice. How could he _not _know that voice? That was the voice of Sam Manson. The cry was followed by a loud crash, a yell, and something that sounded like an ecto weapon firing off into the distance.

* * *

"Get away from me you creep!" Sam screamed at the top of her lungs, smacking the ghost in front of her with the ecto-rifle. The ghost was of about her height, very green, and had previously grabbed her around the waist. It was unfortunately flying at the time, and Sam fell two meters back down to the pathway on her back, where she yelled in pain and turned over, clutching her back. Tucker wasted no time in stunning the spirit, where it froze and then hung in position. Danny flew over to Sam, looking carefully at her injured back.

"Sam! Are you okay?"

Her teeth gritted down, she barely managed a "Yes..."

"Do you think you're gonna be alright?" Tucker asked cautiously, hoping nothing was broken. Sam groaned as she tried to get up, but then instantly lay back down on the ground.

"Gimme a minute..."

Danny and Tucker decided to sit on opposite sides of her, and kept a lookout for anymore hostility around. Though she seemed as though getting gradually better, if not sore, Sam didn't show any sign that she'd be able to get up anytime soon.

* * *

Jack looked over to where he'd heard the noises coming from. He couldn't see anything, but it was obviously in that general direction. He couldn't just go straight to the source though – unlike ghosts, he lacked the ability to fly and consequently had to stick to the path, which on both sides led nowhere in the direction of the sound. So he decided to try a different approach.

"SAM, IS THAT YOU?!" his booming voice travelled afar throughout the Ghost Zone, no doubt at all disgruntling several of its residents.

* * *

A loud yell travelled through the air to the trio and vibrated in their ears. Danny was the first person to realise that it was his father that the yell had been issued from, followed closely by his two friends.

"Looks like we found your dad..." Sam said weakly. "Quick, go get him Danny..."

"But what about-"

"I'll be fine with Tucker..."

"She will. You better go before he wanders too far – you'll never find him here after that." Tucker backed her up. Danny looked out into the direction that his father had been heard from.

"Fine, I don't think I'll be long. Be careful though. If you think something's going to attack you, stun it." Tucker nodded in reply and Danny took off into the depths of the strange dimension. Eventually after about a minute, his father came into view, sitting down, dragging his finger through the ground.

"Dad!"

Jack Fenton's head perked up as he turned around, seeing his son flying toward him. "Danny!"

Danny landed on the ground and embraced his father, just glad to know that he was fine and unhurt. However, neither he or his father noticed the small group of ghosts, angry from the previous noise, approach them...

* * *

Maddie sighed, depressed. She looked at the wall hopelessly, knowing that there was currently no available opportunity to escape. Jack was in danger, Jazz and that little girl were in danger... and all because of her. If only she had had the chance to tell them to keep their wits about them, that they should take other plans of action, this situation may not have happened.

She was desperately hungry; there was no way that she could have brought herself to eat the strange green food that had been placed down in front of her – and even if she had have eaten it, there was a very good chance that it wouldn't have stayed down. If Vlad decided to serve things like that at every meal, she would waste away until her body would command her to eat it one way or another.

"Next chance I get, I'm taking him down." Maddie assured herself quietly. "One slip of a finger, one rogue sneeze, just one small chance... and I'll get him."

"Oh, would you like to repeat what you said just then? I'm afraid I'm a little hard of hearing, and when you whisper _so quietly, _I don't always catch it." Vlad materialised in front of Maddie's eyes, sneering. Disgusted, the ghost hunter refused to answer to her captor.

"Not talking, hm? You do know that that is quite rude. You don't want to be rude."

"You're right." Maddie said scornfully. "I don't want to be rude. To anyone but you."

"Now why would that be, Maddie? I've provided you with a place to stay, food to eat, drinks to... drink – and you're still not grateful. Tell me, as it so does intrigue me; what do you see in that oaf that is your husband?"

"He is not an oaf!" Maddie replied angrily. "He's a sweet, if not a little oblivious loving man! You are not. You're cold – colder than cold. And I'm talking about attitude, not body temperature. I did see something in you... when you weren't such an imbecilic, selfish moron."

"Well, that aside, it's time for you to truly choose – become my queen, or allow your daughter and that girl to perish at the hands of a ghost."

Maddie's anger quickly changed to shame. She couldn't believe what she was doing, but it wasn't like she had a choice. With a small, nearly unnoticeable tear, she took off her HAZMAT suit's glove and removed her wedding ring.

"I'm sorry Jack... Oh God, I'm so sorry..."

Vlad grinned maliciously. "Yes... yes, that's more like it."

**Author's Note:  
**'Kay, I know. It's a little on the short side. The main thing I was focussing on was killing the writer's block, so hopefully the next chapter will be a little longer. Now, as always...

Peace,

-MoonlightUmbreon


	49. In Need of a New Plan

**Author's Note:  
**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and/or read the last chapter! Life's a little hectic, but it's not as bad as it has been, so I should start to get a nice flow of chapters written now. And _hopefully_ it won't be an interrupted one from here on in! Now... we're starting to come to a close. On my incredibly rough guess, we've got one quarter more to go. But that could change at any time. Okay, enough babbling and on with the story. These comments are getting longer than the chapters. Oo

**Chapter 48: In Need of a New Plan  
**"Skulker, release them." Vlad spoke into a microphone in the room with the large television, detailing the happenings in the robotic ghost's lair. Maddie could only watch, strapped into her chair. The robotic ghost turned to the camera, looking straight at it.

"Which ones?"

"The red-haired girl, that wiry ghost with the glasses and the pipsqueak. Send them here, all three." Vlad replied, arms crossed. Skulker sighed, heading to the cage that contained Anita. He opened the door and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.

"Is this the one you speak of?"

"Yes, that's her. Now what about the other two? Get to it!"

Skulker slammed the small girl in a different cage, where she fell to the ground crying. Completely ignoring the noise, he then opened a door to the left, dragging out the Ghostwriter and Jazz. They too, were thrown in the cage. Then Skulker pressed a button underneath his bed, cutting off the communication. After a few seconds, the cage containing the three of them appeared out of nowhere, by means of what must have been a teleport.

"Mum!" Jazz yelled out, seeing her strapped into a chair. She gripped the metal bars, but even though she was fairly thin, didn't have a hope of squeezing through. The thin, wiry ghost attempted to phase through it, now out of the Ghost Zone, only to find he couldn't. Anita just cried, unsure of what to do or what was happening.

Vlad approached the cage in his ghostly form, bending down and sneering at Jazz. "Do you know what you caused your mother to do?"

Jazz started to get worried. The blood ran to her face, making it become slightly red with worry. "What...?"

"She renounced your idiot father, girl. To save you. She's as good as mine."

"M-m-mum...?" Jazz stuttered, unsure of what to say. "You didn't... you didn't _really _do that...?"

Maddie hung her head in shame. She couldn't believe she did it either... but keeping her family safe was more important than being eternally bonded with her husband... right? She couldn't say anything – the words formed at the tip of her tongue, but the words never came out. Instead, a couple of tears dripped from her eyes to the floor.



"You _SCUMBAG!_" Jazz screamed, now trying to grab the ghost in front of her by reaching through the bars, an expression on her face never used before – one that told Vlad that she'd kill him slowly and _very _painfully. He didn't flinch or shudder, however he was disturbed that she could master such a horrific look.

At Jazz's outburst, the Ghostwriter held Anita close to himself in an attempt to calm the poor girl down. She shivered from the cold at first, but eventually nestled in closer. "It's okay..." he whispered quietly. "It's going to be fine. It won't last long - it'll be absolutely fine... Nothing bad will happen."

Maddie cried softly while Jazz continued to yell in a building rage at Vlad, never so angry with anyone in her life. And Vlad just stood there, just out of reach, laughing to himself.

Why shouldn't he? For this round, Vlad had one.

"Quick, we've gotta get back to Sam and Tucker." Danny explained. "Sam's hurt. We can't stay here now – we'll find a way to search for Mum and Jazz when we get back to our house."

Jack took a moment, thinking out his answer. "Okay. I'm starting to get hungry too, so... how am I going to get over that crevice you came over? Do you know a way around?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Well, I know one way. I hope you like heights."

"Well, actually-" Jack was cut off; Danny had grabbed hold of him and flew off the path. All the way to Sam and Tucker, Jack whimpered "Happy place, happy place, happy place..." trying to distract himself from the infinite abyss below.

Sam and Tucker could see two flying figures approaching. "Hey Sam, they're coming!"

Danny and Jack landed on the pathway next to them, Jack nearly hugging the ground in sweet relief. The entrance to the portal was just a few meters back down the path. Sam smiled at Danny's arrival, then attempted to get up, only to fail miserably. Her back was still hurting rather badly.

"I'm... gonna need some help." Sam said somewhat bitterly, hating to let anyone help her. Danny immediately accepted, carefully picking her up and trying his best to avoid touching the part of her back that was giving her the most pain.

"We'll go back to the house for now." Danny said, looking longingly into the Ghost Zone, knowing that somewhere within its depths, his mother and sister awaited. "We can't go like this... we need a better plan."

Without another word, the four headed back through the ghost portal.

Maddie, Jazz, Anita and the Ghostwriter were tossed roughly into a small, cramped room. There was barely enough room for two, let alone four. Maddie was still devastated by what she had been forced to sacrifice; the wedding ring that Jack had saved up for after college had been taken by Vlad and destroyed with a single green ecto-beam. Jazz hugged her tightly, trying to provide some comfort for the poor woman.

The red-headed girl still wanted to tear Vlad to pieces – and that's what had almost happened. She'd stuffed the Fenton Lipstick that she'd taken into the Ghost Zone with her in her pocket, and Skulker 

had missed it when relieving her of her many weapons. When she'd realised that she still had it, she pulled it out and stuck her hand out of the cage, sending blasts in every direction. Vlad had just managed to avoid it all by looking like he was imitating some ballet movements and then swiping it from her hands. He didn't waste any time dumping them into their current room after that little incident.

Anita had finished crying, but she looked lost and scared. The normal cheerful sparkle in her eyes had been wiped, now leaving them to look grey and empty. The Ghostwriter continued to stay by her, truly sorry that she, being what looked like only four or five, had to go through with this.

Jazz, after asking her mother a few questions about what had happened earlier before she'd renounced her husband, gathered that there was also some other things seriously bothering her – which unfortunately were left unsaid. Try as she might, the psychiatrist in training couldn't get her to speak anything of them. The only thing that let Jazz new they existed was that, through lots of tears, Maddie had stated that they were 'unspeakable'.

As day eventually turned to night, there was not a trace of Vlad to be seen. Not for meals, not for anything. The humans of the group had to go to sleep hungry, while the Ghostwriter, able to avoid sleep, kept watch, making sure that the vile man that was the cause of this mess didn't come back while they were defenceless.

"Well, at least things can't get any worse..." Jazz said sleepily through a wide yawn. A moment later, her eyes drooped, and she fell asleep, curled up on the floor.

_I wouldn't be so sure, Jasmine. _An invisible Vlad thought with a grin, watching over them. _After all, Mr. Murphy did say that things can __**always **__get worse._

**Author's Note:  
**Moonlight: And so ends yet another chapter... hope all of you guys enjoyed it.  
Kris: Aaaand... –drum roll- Everyone who reviews gets a **preview of the next chapter!  
**Moonlight: What?! Oh great, thanks Kris. Now I have to do it. So yeah... what my muse said. Previews for reviews! Even to the anonymous reviews, if you leave your email, I'll send you the preview!  
Peace,  
-MoonlightUmbreon- 


	50. Stolen

**Author's Note:**  
Okay, never trust me to say "I'll update soon!" _ever _again. My life suddenly went out of control, between smashing my teeth in whilst rollerblading to an epic ton of homework that I'm _still _desperately trying to finish, not to mention a few tests coming up. My update flow probably won't improve 'till the Summer holidays, (4 days before Christmas) but I promise that I'm trying.

Very sorry about the late update. I feel ashamed about it. I don't know what happened to the chappy preview I sent out to the reviewers on my computer, so this chapter will have it's differences, I bet. I've also had a lot of time to think since I haven't been writing much... and... well... I've changed the way that this ends, and I think that I've decided to do things a different way for other things, too. Thanks for the critique last chapter, if you guys haven't abandoned this story because of the long update time. I really appreciate it, and those of you who gave it know who you are. You deserve cookies. And a meddle. :3

**Chapter 49: Stolen**  
It was now well-into the night. Sam and Tucker had headed off home after both being called by their parents and scolded for being out so late. Tucker had walked, while Sam took a cab, as she was able to afford the expense. Besides, she couldn't very-well walk home with her back in such a sorry state.

Danny and his father, Jack, sat in the lounge room, discussing what they should do next. However, they'd been doing this for half the day and most of the night, and it just wasn't working. The only clue they had was that the "Wisconsin Ghost" lived in Wisconsin. And how were you supposed to seek it out in an area that big?

_3:54am_

Jack glanced at the clock, rubbing his tired eyes with his HAZMAT suit's gloves. They were getting rather bloodshot, and his body was ready to hit the pillow.

His mind, on the other hand, was not.

"I need coffee..." Danny's father slurred, his half-open eyes beginning to droop further. Danny didn't hesitate to make it, although it didn't seem to help – soon after drinking his fill, Jack Fenton was lost to the world of dreams.

Danny himself didn't even think about sleeping. He wanted to stay awake – _had _to stay awake. He had to think of something.

He was so busy being lost in thought that he didn't realise when the Wisconsin Ghost materialised behind him. Within a moment's notice Danny was confused, bewildered, and most-definitely no longer in his lounge room.

--

Anita picked up a small stone from the ground. She couldn't sleep any longer, not even if she felt somewhat-safe in the Ghostwriter's hands. Taking a moment to find the sharper end on it, she began to use the rock to draw thin, powdery white lines over the cold stone bricks. The ghost behind her watched as more and more lines were etched into the walls, looking much like symbols. He wasn't quite sure where they were from, but he doubted much that they'd just come from the girl's head – simple as they were.

One was a swirl with two tails extending from the middle, while another was an hourglass. The final one she drew was just simple – three triangles in a pyramid shape.

And quite suddenly, a collection of bricks fell to the ground to reveal a passageway.

"What were those symbols?"

"They're these things from a bunch of games called 'The Legend of Zelda'... I was just drawing and then the wall came down..."

The Ghostwriter had heard of that title before. Were they not a set of video games? He was sure... Thing is, that meant...

"The Wisconsin Ghost likes playing the Legend of Zelda?"

...

Apparently so. Not that it was so much of significant importance as it was laughable. But still – apparently so.

--

The small group of four – Maddie, Jazz, the Ghostwriter and Anita – stepped out from the secret passage. It had lead them straight into an underground laboratory – evidently not the way out, but at least somewhere. It was there that they heard the Wisconsin Ghost's voice echo through the chamber.

"- know what I mean, Daniel." he snarled – the small group leaned in a little closer to within eyeshot, where they saw Danny trapped in some kind of metal cube. The Wisconsin Ghost didn't like the nonexistent answer that his subject was giving him, either. "Answer me! I know you know, so there's no point denying it or shaking your head or _anything! _Now give me an answer, or you'll find your head subtracted from your shoulders!"

"But I _don't know_." the boy said angrily, his face curling into an angry glare. "I don't know any secret of what I am! I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"You know _exactly _what I'm talking about, boy! You still have your human side! I was split! You surely know something about switching!"

"But I don't know anything! Why'd you have to get my family involved – or start killing people or anything to find this out! Why didn't you just take _me _in the first place?!"

"I'm the one asking the questions, Daniel. And I can guarantee you that until mine are answered, you won't have your answers, either."

Maddie suddenly tuned out – he was finally doing it. He was letting himself become revealed – and all just to get the answers. The others might not have picked up on it, but she knew his split half only too well. Well, not _really _well, but she at least _used _to know it. She knew the two were connected – the same person in two different forms – but... she didn't know that the two were split; they had been the one being... and now he thinks that Danny... is the same, when clearly he is not...

Unpleasant thoughts began brewing in Maddie's head, although she shared them with none as she watched the events unfold before her...

--

"You know what I'm talking about," the Wisconsin Ghost stated, voice suddenly calm. "Surely, you have switched – I know you have."

"_Because I'm the voice in your head..."_

"No... I don't know!" Danny said, and then continued, feebly, "Please, let all of us go..."

"_You have seen yourself change, Danny. Do you remember – it was that flash of the eyes in the mirror. Your eyes were blue, for just that moment. It was me. I found that human part of you still locked inside, unable to resurface, powerless. I brought it out to try and show you that there was still that side to you."_

Danny's mouth dried up, remembering the voices he'd heard – and that small, quick flash. That was... it was... him. The original him – the blood sample, the urge to occasionally eat... the icy blue eyes... there was a human part in him – there definitely was. He wanted to say something, but found himself rather speechless instead.

_It was you... you were -are- the voice in my head. The one that has been causing me to faint, the one that's been prying into my thoughts! Why have you been doing that? _Danny thought mentally, forgetting that his thoughts could be heard quite well, it seemed.

"_Because you hold the answer to sow me back together. Without my human half, I become powerless to my wants! I do things that my conscience regrets! Boy, do you see where I'm going with this? I almost _killed _my human half a few months after it split off. I'm lucky enough right now to be forcing myself into my right mind – which I can do only seldom of the time."_

Danny's mind became blank. There was still many of his questions unanswered, but even though he'd met with the same fate as the Wisconsin Ghost, how on earth could he provide the answer of regaining his – and the ghost before him's – human self? There was too much he didn't know for his mind to decide on any kind of decision, and it was so late at night... even as a ghost...

Vlad noticed his weary state. There was no use heckling him now. He would have to wait a few hours – a few hours that would try his control.

The spectators, unaware of the non-verbal fight that had gone on between the two ghosts, looked at each other in confusion. Maddie did not – she might have only known a quarter of the story when it came to this, but it was certainly... a quarter that mattered.

**Author's Note:  
**Forgive me for the shortness, and for the extreeeeeeeeeeme lateness. I have to get a feel for this story again – I haven't written in months.

Reviewers are showered with streamers. Those with criticism are showered with the junk food of their choice.

Kris:_ Yeah, it's me. Bet you haven't heard from me in a while unless you're over on dA as well, I think. Just saying 'hi', and also that I'm trying to whip Moonlight into shape with the whole updating thing. She really wants to get back on track, but her life right now is messy and very, very busy. I hope, and she hopes, that you'll all forgive her for that._

Peace,  
-MoonlightUmbreon


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